Those Who Have Thrice Defied Him
by ilovedraco45
Summary: Previously Real Life. Third in my Marauders series, the first two are Right Place and Meanderings . Lily and James deal with being married and the growing threat of Voldemort. Rated T for language - I tend to swear .
1. Prologue: An Unpleasant Surprise

A/N: This is my third Marauder fic, all part of the same series! Thanks to everyone for their crazy enthusiasm! Enjoy!

Prologue – An Unpleasant Surprise

Lily Potter peeled off her sweaty denim shorts, revealing her simple bikini. Closing her eyes, she dove into the pool, the clear blue water engulfing her luxuriously. Swimming the pool's length, she climbed out at the other end and returned to her chaise lounge, drying her hair and picking up her book again. Here in Phoenix, Arizona, most people only stayed in the water long enough to cool off before returning to their tanning beds. While Lily loved to swim and didn't tan, thanks to her long, red hair, her book was to interesting to put down, and the sun's rays were enticing, calling out to her. _Wizards can't get melanoma_, they said. _Fall asleep and let me have my way with your skin._ With a small smile, she put on her sunglasses and closed her eyes behind them, basking in the sun like a cat.

James Potter, her new husband, broke the water's surface and climbed out, smiling at the sight of his wife asleep in the sun. After a week and a half of marriage, he still couldn't believe that she given him her heart and taken his forever, promising to treasure it as much as her own. A chuckle escaped his lips as he remembered the old days of their friendship, and the even older days of their enmity. All that seemed like a blip on the map of their past, and their future spread before him like those scary four-lane highways that crisscrossed over Phoenix. James was looking forward to every minute of it, as long as Lily was by his side. She smiled as she curled her legs to her in her sleep, and James saw a shadow of a handsome man with long, black hair standing over her sleeping form and smiling wickedly. _Shit_, James thought, surreptitiously performing the Bubble-Head Charm and sinking to the pool floor, thinking that Lily couldn't kill him if she couldn't find him.

Lily was dreaming that she was performing with the Beatles. She was screaming "Carry That Weight" at the top of her lungs when Sirius Black appeared in the front row, jumping up and down and waving his arms. "Lily! Ev-Potter! _Lilyflower!_" Suddenly, he threw a bucket of water onto her face and she woke, spluttering.

Sirius Black was standing over her, flicking drops of water in her face. "_Sirius!_" Lily screeched, enraged. "What the _hell_ are you doing here?"

Underwater, James cringed, listening to her tirade. _Maybe I'll just stay down here for awhile…_he thought, looking around the bottom of the pool. _She's going to nail Sirius' fun bags to the wall._


	2. The Cottage

Chapter One – The Cottage

Disclaimer: I own what I own, and I don't own what I don't own, which includes a parakeet, that really awesome necklace from Urban Outfitters, and the Harry Potter series.

"Let me get this straight," Lily said, trying to run her hands through her hair but ending up pulling it painfully, as the chlorine had made it quite tangled. "You followed us to Arizona to hang out and have a pranktastic Marauder time? Merlin, it isn't even the full moon!" She worked hard to fight a smile at the expression on Sirius, Remus, and Peter's faces – they looked like scolded puppies.

"Come on, flower," Sirius cajoled. "You're leaving the day after tomorrow, and I'm sure that James has had plenty of time to shag you so far." James smacked Sirius on the arm and glared, but Sirius continued. "Pleeeeeease? You're very pretty," he added afterwards, and she giggled in spite of herself. "You laughed, we're off the hook!" he shouted triumphantly. "Who's up for a swim?"

"Me!" Peter shouted, and the two boys stormed out the back door of the condo, splashing into the pool.

Lily sighed, and turned to Remus. "Please tell me you at least _tried_ to stop them."

The sandy-haired werewolf nodded, smiling dryly. "_You_ try stopping Sirius from doing anything," he pointed out, and Lily laughed. Remus took this as his cue that she wasn't going to murder him, and went after Padfoot and Wormtail. "Sirius, that isn't a pool toy!"

Finally, Lily turned to James, who was biting his lip and avoiding her gaze. "I'm not going to do anything," she assured him, and sighed with relief. "But they're not going to come back to Godric's Hollow and live with us. You know that, right?"

"Of course!" James exclaimed. "Sirius is getting his own place – his Uncle Alphard left him some gold – and Remus and Peter are sorted out. Besides," he growled, pinching her butt. "Roommates would be most inconvenient while we're still newlyweds." Lily blushed and swatted his arm good-naturedly before husband and wife ran out the back door after the three Marauders, who were currently scaring all the other hotel guests out of the large pool.

***

James was telling the truth about Sirius' place. As soon as the Marauders and Lily had Apparated back to London from Arizona, he took them there to show it off. It was quite the bachelor pad, complete with the black leather couch, stash of firewhiskey, and cheesy lighting. "You guys can crash here whenever you want," Sirius said to the five of them. Privately, Lily thought she would rather sleep on a street corner than risk bursting in on Sirius doing the deed with a random girl, but she smiled and accepted the offer graciously. Bidding Moony, Wormtail and Padfoot goodbye, James took Lily's arm in his and Apparated them to their new house in Godric's Hollow. James' parents had purchased it for them as a wedding gift, and Lily was excited to see it for the first time.

As her body re-expanded, she opened her eyes to the sight of one of the coziest cottages she had ever seen. It was small, painted light yellow with a white door and windows, and there was a white fence around it. She and James made for the front door immediately, and she didn't argue when James insisted on carrying her over the threshold, even though she thought it was ridiculous.

The rooms on the ground floor were all spacious and sunny, with a living room, dining room, kitchen and bathroom. Upstairs, there were two bedrooms and one bathroom. "One for us, and one for Harry," Lily noted with a smile, ignoring a strange twinge in her stomach. "Auror training starts tomorrow," she reminded James. "When are we going to have time to shop for furniture?"

"We'll make the time," he murmured, wrapping his arms around her waist. "But the important thing is, we have a place of our very own where no one can bother us." Lily smiled, turning in his arms and meeting his lips with hers for a long kiss.

"Where are we supposed to sleep?" she mumbled into his mouth, and he conjured a bed in the master bedroom with a wave of his wand. Smiling, he pulled her inside and shut the door behind them, even though it was their very own house where no one could bother them.

James was right: they did make the time to shop. Though Auror training was rigorous (Lily often compared it to complaints her cousin Clarence had made when he was training for the Royal Air Force), they ended up with a blue pull-out couch, blue-and-white striped loveseat, and a couple of squashy armchairs to put in the living room, which contrasted nicely with the thick, cream carpet. James' mother was particularly enthusiastic about furnishings, as so many grown women are, and threw Lily a kitchen shower. James nearly busted a gut laughing when he saw Lily staggering in the door to their house under a mountain of silverware, placemats, candlesticks, a cauldron, and a Self-Peeling Potato Peeler, but the laughter soon subsided when she made him help her set it all up. They found a nice table and chairs for the dining room, a slightly more beat-up table and chairs for the kitchen, purchased from a second-hand store in Diagon Alley, and a large bed and two nightstands for the master bedroom. They'd considered what to do about Harry's room for awhile, until remembering that shopping for their future son that they only knew they were having because they'd been to the future and met him could be constituted as slightly weird. Lily bought some nice potted plants for the kitchen windowsill and hung some Muggle prints on the walls, and a house became a home in a remarkably short time.

Lily loved everything about the house – the cozy rooms, the tiny kitchen, the backyard that was enchanted to be a veritable jungle of grass, flowers, leaves, vines and trees. She loved waking up next to James every morning, carefully slipping out from under his arm out of bed, tiptoeing downstairs, paying the owl for the _Daily Prophet_, and heating water in the cauldron for tea. She loved learning to de-gnome the garden, though she did not love receiving an angry letter from the Ministry saying that one of her gnomes had flown through a Muggle window and sunk its teeth into a toddler's hand. She loved painting the walls of each room with a flick of her wand and enchanting dishes to wash themselves. But most of all, she loved the furtive grins James shot her when he didn't think she was looking, happy that she was so pleased with the house and their new life together. She loved having a place of her own for herself and James, where no one could bother them.


	3. Family Feud

Chapter Two – Family Feud

A/N: Okay, so you'd think that Lily and James would've gotten her stuff out of her house before now. To make it sound plausible, when Dumbledore sent her things to the Potters' house, he only sent along clothes and toiletries. All of her other stuff is still there.

Disclaimer: Despite my best efforts, I am not JK Rowling, and, as such, do not own the Harry Potter series.

_Why did I want to be an Auror again?_ James asked himself miserably as Mad-Eye Moody barked "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" for the millionth time in about an hour. _If I have to stop You-Know-Who from attacking the Ministry or Hogwarts or a bunch of Muggles, all I'll be able to do is bore him to death with facts._ He looked over at Lily sitting next to him with a steely glint in her eye as she learned how to defend Muggles and Muggle-borns like her, people who were being unfairly persecuted, and looking like an all-around badass. _Ah, yes. That's why._

"Listen up!" Moody commanded, and James' head snapped back to the front of the room. "We're starting tactical training this afternoon. You will be tested on animated dummies–"

"–You're using Inferi?" Frank Longbottom, an old classmate of James', interrupted frantically, and his wife Alice rolled her eyes.

"_No_, Longbottom. _Animated dummies _are different from _Inferi_," Moody said very slowly, as though he were talking to a young child. He looked around at the bright young faces, the future of the Auror department, and shook his head. "You know what, take lunch."

"Yes, Professor," James grumbled under his breath. "I feel like we're just in school again," he moaned, and Lily squeezed his shoulder.

"We _are_ in school," she said. "This is the sort of training we need to go through to be good Aurors, and" – she dropped her voice – "good Order members."

James groaned good-naturedly. "Why are you always right?" he asked, kissing her.

"I'm the woman," she quipped. "It's programmed in us at birth. Come on." Taking his hand, she led James out of the classroom and to the lifts so they could get lunch at the employee cafeteria.

The Ministry cafeteria was very similar to Muggle cafeterias. The customary powder blue and puke green linoleum was there, as were the plastic tables and chairs and the workplace rights posters. But on every table, there were plates, silverware, cups, jugs of water and pumpkin juice, and menus. When you'd selected what you wanted from the menu, you placed your money on the plate, told your plate what you wanted, the Galleons would disappear, and the food would appear. Lily was fascinated by this, having never seen food served in this manner, which James found adorably naïve. Clearly, he had forgotten the millions of times during his travels with Lily, Sirius, and Mary MacDonald when he had been transfixed by the Muggle technology in airports, and, on one occasion, had tried to climb into the X-ray machine. Today, James and Lily sat down across from a harried, red-haired wizard in rather shabby robes who was talking to a middle-aged warlock about legislation concerning flying cars.

The warlock left, muttering under his breath, just as James and Lily sat down and ordered. "Arthur Weasley," the tall wizard introduced himself, and the married couple poked each other under the table. _Ron and Ginny!_ they both realized with a shock, as Lily introduced herself and James. "Ah, yes, you must be two of the new Aurors. How's your training going?"

James grumbled something through a mouthful of rice, and Lily smiled sympathetically. "It's hard, but I know it'll be worth it. What department are you in?"

"The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office," Arthur replied, leading into a story about shrinking door keys and how they kept disappearing, confusing Muggles to no end.

Lily laughed. "That would explain why I could never keep track of my keys when I was younger." Seeing Arthur's confused expression, she explained, "I'm a Muggle-born."

Arthur's face lit up, and he began grilling Lily on everything Muggle – from how to use the television to how the postal service works. "Impossible," James said, his mouth hanging open. "You're telling me that wires attached to pieces of metal create light? There's no way that could work!"

"It can and it does," Lily confirmed, smiling. "Remember the hotel in San Francisco when you flipped that switch and the room got brighter? And how you spent a half hour flipping the lights on and off?"

James laughed. "Wait, _that's_ how it works? That's crazy!" Arthur looked very excited about being in the presence of people who had used electricity, and Moody was shouting for all the Auror trainees to return to their floor all too soon.

***

The next weekend, James heard a beak tapping on the kitchen window, and opened it to let in their tawny owl, Artemis, a wedding present from James' Uncle Derrick. "Lils, you've got a letter," he called to Lily, who was in the bath. "From a Muggle? How would Muggles know to use owl post?"

"I think there are wizards undercover in the postal service," Lily replied, hurrying down the stairs, not wanting to betray Petunia by explaining how she knew. "William Fields…oh, Merlin, this must be my inheritance." She wrapped her towel tighter around herself and slit open the letter. _Dear Ms. Evans,_ the letter read. _I would like to take this opportunity express my deepest condolences for your loss. Your parents' will has been released. They have bequeathed you with 100,000 pounds and the title to their Ford Crown Victoria. The house has been left to you and your sister to decide what to do with it. As far as I know, it has not been sold yet, and still needs to been cleaned out. On a more personal note, I would suggest that you get to the house quickly, as Ms. Dursley seemed enthusiastic about getting everything out before you could get to it. Yours, W. Fields._ Casting an illusion spell on her towel so she was wearing jeans and a sweater, Lily stood up, throwing her hair into a bun. "I'm going now," she announced to James, who was still reading the letter. "Are you coming?" With a nod, James hooked his arm in hers, and she Apparated them to her parents' house outside of Sheffield.

When Lily opened her eyes, she was standing in the middle of her old bedroom. Everything was exactly the same as she had left it, and she took a deep, rattling breath, taking it all in. The posters of Muggle bands and Quidditch teams were still tacked to her light purple walls, her Christmas lights were hung around the ceiling, and her dresser had dust collecting on the surface. The mirror over her desk was still surrounded by photographs, both Muggle and Wizarding. Conjuring a small, cardboard box, she began prying them off the mirror and putting them away. Pictures of her and Petunia sitting on the lap of a bored-looking Santa Claus, Wizarding photographs of herself, Mary, and her other dormmates, pictures of her in elementary school with frizzy hair and a mouthful of metal, her Hogwarts acceptance letter, baby pictures, and an ancient movie ticket all went into the box. The last picture seemed most unwilling to part with the mirror, but Lily finally managed to pry it off. It was a Wizarding photo of her, Mary, James, Sirius and her parents at her graduation party. She shoved it into the box quickly so she wouldn't have to look at it, and James wrapped his arms around her. "They had great lives," he soothed, and Lily nodded, blinking back tears.

"O-okay," she gulped. "Let's strip the bed." They conjured another box, put an Undetectable Extension Charm on it, and Lily's sheets, pillows, and green comforter all got packed up. She took her stuffed animals out of their basket, the posters off the walls and the books off the shelves, and packed up all her knick-knacks before taking one last look around, swallowing the orange-sized lump in her throat, and closing the door on her childhood.

The dining room was almost completely cleaned out. Her parents' good china, silver, and linens were all gone, and boxes littered the front room. "I never met your sister," James mused. "Why didn't she come to our wedding, again?"

As if on cue, Petunia's shrill voice rang out from the kitchen. "Vernon, be a dear and grab some more boxes from the car, would you? I know I packed a few more." She entered the dining room, saw James and Lily standing there instead of Vernon, and stopped short. "What?" she snapped, her voice laced with malice.

"I've come to get my things," Lily said, her voice equally cold. James was confused – weren't they sisters?

"None of this stuff belongs to you, _freak_," Petunia hissed. "If it wasn't for you, they'd still be here and I wouldn't be packing up their house, would I?"

"Now wait just a minute," James began, but Lily shot him a look that said _stay out of it_.

"James, sweetie," she said in a fake, sugary-sweet tone. "Would you grab the crystal? It should be in the lower cabinet over there." James nodded; growing more confused by the second, and opened the cabinet to find it empty. Lily's eyes narrowed. "_Accio Crystal!_" she shouted, and heard Vernon's inhuman bellow moments afterwards as the crystal, and the box it was in, zoomed out of the car and came to rest in her hands. "Anything else that belongs to me, Petunia?" she asked coolly, handing the box to James. Petunia's eyes widened as James placed an Unbreakable Charm on the crystal and put it into the box with the Undetectable Extension Charm on it, which was significantly smaller than the crystal's original box.

"This must be Freak Two," she spat. "I heard about the wedding from Grandma Alison. Finally you can leave our world and just be in your freak world of abnormality, where you _belong_." James eyes flashed to Lily. If looks could kill, Petunia would be dead before she hit the floor. "Grab the couch, would you?" she asked James, who cast _Wingardium Leviosa_ and directed it into the box. "Oh, and a couple other things…_Accio Mum's Jewelry! Accio Family Photo Albums!_" Once her box was packed, she cast Petunia one last glance. "One more chance," she said. "We can be a family. Just say the word." Petunia's lips pursed so hard they were almost invisible.

"Never," she hissed. "Have a nice life, _freak_."

"Have a nice life with Fatty, then," Lily snarled, before grabbing James' arm, and Petunia screamed as they disappeared into thin air with a loud _crack!_

James had never been more appreciative of his own family in his entire life. "Lily–" he began, but she shook him off, mumbling to herself.

"Bitch – freak – show her – horseface," she fumed, pacing back and forth, before grabbing their box and unpacking the family photos and her books. She put them on the bookshelf in the living room, put her mom's jewelry away, and left all her things from her room in the box to deal with later. Lastly, she pulled out the crystal. She took her time with each piece, dusting it off lovingly and putting it in a glass cupboard. There were vases, glasses, pitchers, and candlesticks, each piece more beautiful than the last. Pulling out the last two candlesticks, she placed them on the kitchen table, sat in front of them, and glowered.

Every year on Christmas Eve, her mother would place the candlesticks on the center of the table, light the candles, and turn off all the lights. The firelight would dance off all the other pieces of crystal in the living room, and her entire extended family would join hands, singing "Silent Night". On Boxing Day, the candlesticks were put away for a year, only to be brought out again the next Christmas. When Lily was a little girl, before her letter came, that first moment they were lit, when light played on everybody's smiling faces and rainbows bounced off the other pieces of crystal, she truly believed that magic existed, right in that very moment. A hot tear squeezed its way out the corner of her eye, and she felt James' hand on her shoulder. With a howl, she flung her head down onto the kitchen table and burst into tears, James's hands rubbing her back and his lips whispering soothing things in her ears.


	4. James and Sirius Drive a Car

Chapter Three – James and Sirius Drive a Car

A/N: Imagine the scene in _Zoolander_ when Derek and Hansel are trying to figure out how to turn on the computer. That was the image in my head when I pictured James and Sirius trying to drive a car.

Disclaimer: Nothing's changed so far.

Still, life went on. James and Lily passed their exams and became full-fledged Aurors. This did a lot for James' already healthy confidence, and he and Sirius often went around holding their hands like guns (Lily had explained the concept to them while forcing them to sit through a James Bond movie) and humming to themselves, trying to be furtive, when they fancied a laugh or were just bored. Their marriage was fine. Everything was fine. James could hardly believe his good luck. He finally had what he wanted – the girl of his dreams, a badass career, and a place of his own. There was just one small problem.

James had intercepted another letter from W. Fields via Artemis. The gist of the letter was basically: _pick up the damn car before someone steals it_. James didn't want Lily to go back to the house, afraid that they would run into Petunia again (_she was scarily bitchy_, James thought with a grimace.) There was only one option in his Marauder mind: he would have to Apparate to Sheffield, get the car, and drive it back to Godric's Hollow. He threw a handful of Floo powder into the fireplace and called, "Sirius! Leaky Cauldron at 7:30!"

"BAHAHAHAHA!" Sirius was laughing so hard, his face was bright red and he fell off his barstool. "Prongs, my compadre, that is the worst plan I have _ever heard_, including the time you tried to dye your hair in the second year when you heard Lily say she liked blondes."

"Yeah, but are you in?" James pressed.

"I'm _so_ in," Sirius agreed, still shaking with laughter. "I can't wait to watch you cack this up, Prongsie."

James rolled his eyes, but had to laugh all the same. "Cheers, then," he said, clinking his glass against Sirius' and taking a long sip.

***

"Have you ever done this before?" James asked Padfoot apprehensively. Sirius shook his head, eyeing the car as though it would come to life and run them down by itself. They'd gone to Mr. Fields' office for the keys before Apparating into Lily's old bedroom again. It was clear that Petunia had cleaned the place out after James and Lily had Disapparated, as the room was completely deserted, as was the house. They'd made their way to the driveway, where the burgundy Crown Victoria stood, menacing, like a cat waiting to pounce. "Okay," James said. "Let's think this through. What did Lily do when she drove that car in Canada?"

"First she got in," Sirius said hesitantly. There was a short squabble over who actually had to drive. James lost and ended up in the driver's seat, clutching the steering wheel so hard his knuckles were white. They buckled their seatbelts. "Now what?" Sirius asked, staring at all the dials and buttons.

"You have to put the key in somewhere and twist, I think," James said, staring at the dashboard. "Um…where would a key fit? Where did Lily put it last time?"

"No bloody idea," Sirius replied, preoccupied with opening and closing the glove compartment over and over. They stuck the key anywhere they thought it would fit, including the heating vents, the tape player, and a crack between two of the seat cushions that wasn't even supposed to be there before James found the ignition, inserted the key, and twisted. The radio burst to life and Led Zeppelin came blaring out of the speakers. "_AHHHHHH!_" both boys yelled, fumbling with all the different dials on the radio console before they found the volume dial and turned the music down.

"Right, so we've started the car," James said, and Sirius nodded, white as a sheet. A bit more fiddling around, and they'd put the car in drive, found the gas pedal, and pulled into the street, with much lurching and sudden stops and starts. Padfoot found a map in the glove compartment, and was put in charge of finding the freeway. "How can Muggles do this every day?" James asked incredulously as they pulled onto the highway, surrounded by speeding cars.

"Okay, so we just stay on this road until Exit 223B, whatever that is," Sirius noted after checking the map. The Led Zeppelin tape had run its course, and now the car was silent, save for the rushing noises of the cars around them and the terrified, rattling breaths of the two wizards. After about an hour on the road, James and Sirius noticed flashing lights in their rearview mirror. "What the buggering hell is that?" Sirius asked, hearing a siren.

"Ambulance boats sound like that," James noted, remembering an unfortunate incident involving Lily, himself, a gondola, and a Venetian canal.

"Yes, but we aren't in the water, James," Sirius replied, a little exasperated from the stress.

Just then, the police officer got out his bullhorn. "_Bloody hell, pull over!_" he shouted into it, and James pulled off onto the side of the road. The officer stomped up to the car. James, not knowing how to roll down the window, opened the door instead. "Do you have _any idea_ how fast you were going?" the officer demanded, thoroughly pissed off.

"Erm…no?" James asked. Sirius looked about ready to wet himself.

"200 kilometers per hour, that's how bloody fast you were going," the policeman snapped. "I have no _idea_ how you could even do that without realizing. I'm writing you a ticket for reckless driving and endangering other drivers. License and registration."

"What's a license?" James asked. Sirius poked him – clearly this was not the right thing to say. The policeman turned a strange shade of puce and drew his handcuffs out of his pocket.

"Right. You're coming with me." He made to snap the handcuffs around James' wrists, but Sirius drew his wand and shouted, "_Obliviate!_"

The officer shook his head, looking dazed. "Right. Well. Off you go, then." He got back into his car and drove off, leaving James and Sirius to restart their hearts.

"Maybe we should use magic," James said, shaking. Sirius nodded. James tapped the steering wheel with his wand, and the car pulled out onto the road, rumbling along in the center of its lane at a perfect speed, and the road trip was completed without any more trouble.

***

"You did _what_?" Lily asked, her face a bright red. James and Sirius hadn't returned until the sun was beginning to set, and Lily had been beside herself. "You cannot be serious!" she yelled, before slapping her hand over her mouth. "I mean, um, how could you, um, oh, sod it. Just get it over with," she told Sirius, putting a hand over her eyes.

"Why yes, Lilyflower my dear," Sirius replied, grinning wickedly. "I am Sirius." Lily and James both groaned, beyond tired of that pun.

"Let me get this straight," she grumbled. "You Apparated to my parents' house in Sheffield, got the car, and _drove it back here_?"

"Um…yes?" James squeaked.

"_Why_, pray tell, didn't you take me with you?" she asked. "I know how to drive!"

"I – erm," James stuttered. Sirius nudged him under the table. _Charm_, he mouthed, and James took a deep breath. "I didn't want to make you go back there," he said, a bit more firmly. "Much less force you to drive your family car more than two hours back to our cottage."

Lily rolled her eyes. "You're making it _really hard_ for me to be mad at you, James," she groused, and James smiled. Mission accomplished. "I am married to a complete bonehead."

"By the way, Lily," Sirius piped up. "What's a license?" Lily groaned, poured herself a large mug of tea, surreptitiously added a splash of Firewhiskey, and settled herself in a kitchen chair, warming up for a long explanation.


	5. Defiance I

Chapter 4 – Defiance I

A/N: This is my first time writing an action scene, so please let me know how I could improve!

Disclaimer: Same as always.

Voldemort was on the rise, and the Order of the Phoenix was growing just as quickly. Dumbledore was recruiting as fast as he could, which was very fast, and holding meetings almost every evening. Lily was taking every single Muggle or Muggle-born killing as a personal attack, which was making her rather stressed and short-tempered with everyone. It didn't seem fair to her that she had been spared so far while millions of people like her were suffering and dying every day, but at the same time, she didn't want to suffer or die. Her mind was very conflicted, and that only added to her stress. James was really trying to be sympathetic and remember that she wasn't mad at him, but it was hard. She was very irritable, and snapped at him for the smallest things, even though she always apologized later. _This so called "Lord" is ruining my _entire life. _He's making a mockery out of everything I hold near and dear to myself, killing 5,000 Muggleborns before breakfast – if he's even human enough to _need _breakfast – and getting in my head to boot! If I could just get him face-to-face,_ Lily seethed to herself every day. _I'd make him pay for everything he's doing_.

The occasion to get him face-to-face came in December of 1978. Lily and James had been eating dinner at their tiny table when a phoenix Patronus appeared before them and spoke in Dumbledore's voice. "Mass Muggle torturing occurring at Elephant and Castle, Fifth and Dumbarton. Kindly respond immediately."

Lily had grabbed her wand, and Summoned her cloak and shoes before James had set down his fork. When they were both ready, they Apparated to Elephant and Castle, on the corner of Fifth and Dumbarton.

The place was a mess of screams, wand sparks, and hexes. Almost from the moment Lily landed, she was forced to deflect a Stunning Spell and a Full-Body Bind. James roared in anger and started at her attacker, firing a well-placed Stunner at Evan Rosier, who dropped like a rock. Lily didn't want James to leave her, but then she saw the Muggles. An old lady, a young woman, and a girl who looked to be about two were kneeling frozen on the ground, clearly dead, all wearing expressions of utmost terror. Lily felt the blood boil in her veins as she saw a baby screaming as his mother was subjected to the Cruciatus Curse, and a young boy rocked back and forth with his knees drawn to his chest, covered in angry boils. She trained her wand on the masked figure performing the Curse on the baby's mother, screaming "_Petrificus Totalus!_" The figure fell, stiff as a board, at Lily's feet, and she aimed a well-placed kick to his or her head before running to the baby and reuniting him with his mother, who sobbed her thanks wordlessly at Lily before the red-head ran her over to an Auror who was handling the misplaced Muggles.

Fifteen minutes later, the Aurors had managed to get all the Muggles off the scene. The battle became more heated as the Order members and Aurors became less discriminate about Unforgivable Curses, knowing they wouldn't hit any innocent bystanders. Remus ran up to Lily and said something, but the snap-crackle-pop action of the many hexes, jinxes and curses flying back and forth stole them. "_He's here!_" Remus bellowed when Lily didn't respond, and the night air suddenly grew colder.

James had never seen Voldemort in the flesh before and hoped never to see him again. The man was horribly creepy – alabaster-white skin, strangely long fingers, red eyes with vertical pupils, and slits in his face where most people had a nose and nostrils, and James watched, horrified, as many Aurors and Order members alike dropped, one by one. _Lily, where's Lily,_ he thought frantically, and he almost collapsed with relief when he saw her locked in fierce battle with Dolohov. "_Eat this!_" she shrieked, driving the toe of her shoe into his groin. Dolohov yelled in surprise and dropped to his knees. "_Stupefy!_" she shouted, taking advantage of his moment of distraction, and he crumbled. _That's my girl,_ James thought with a wry smile before Voldemort was right in front of him.

"Potter," he hissed. "You little blood traitor bastard. You are a disgrace to the name wizard. _Avada Kedavra!_"

James gaped as the jet of green light came out of the Dark Lord's wand and headed towards him in slow motion. _This is it,_ he thought, oddly calm. _This is the end. _ The sight of a large war memorial jumping in front of him and taking the blow jolted him back to earth, and he and Voldemort both turned to look at Lily, who was seething with rage.

"_You!_" she shouted, hurling herself at Voldemort. All magical powers abandoned, she started punching, kicking, and biting every inch of him that she could. "You – killed – my – parents – you – little – suck!" she screamed, landing a different blow with each word. The blows had no effect on the Dark Lord who, with a flick of his wrist, sent Lily catapulting into a streetlamp as though she were a pebble. She hit the pole with a loud _clang!_ and slumped on the sidewalk, unmoving.

With a roar, James sent a curse at Voldemort, who deflected it almost instantly. "_Crucio!_" the Dark Lord hissed, and the pain began.

The street was gone. The light was gone. Voldemort was gone. All James knew was the pain, the pain that spread through his veins into every single molecule of his body. It felt as though every inch of his body was being punched from the inside and out, while being set on fire and hit by a train. He writhed and twisted on the pavement, his muscles clenching and his teeth grinding. He was the pain, and the pain was him, and the white-hot fire in his veins was going to kill him. It seemed like an eternity before the curse was lifted by Marlene McKinnon, who helped James to his feet and shot a spurt of water into his mouth with the Aguamenti Charm. "Thanks," he mumbled feebly. "Where'd Lily go?"

"She's been moved to St. Mungo's," Marlene said, dragging James behind a car and sitting him down. "You'd best get out of here. Go see her. Dumbledore will understand."

"Thanks, Marlene," James replied, a little more strongly and wiping what turned out to be blood off of his cheek. "I mean it."

"_Wilkes!_" Marlene shrieked, running after the Death Eater, completely oblivious to James' gratitude. Thoroughly shaken, James summoned every ounce of strength he had in him and Apparated to St. Mungo's hospital.

The Welcome Witch was quite frazzled, completely surrounded by shouting witches and wizards who needed to find their loved ones. "Fourth floor!" she shrieked to James, who took off running for the stairs, not stopping until he reached the Nigellus Memorial Wing, where Lily lay on a metal cot, limp as a rag doll. Her fiery tresses were spread across the pillow and her eyes were closed. The smallest of frowns played across her bruised face, but she gave no other sign of being conscious.

"There we are, poppet," a Healer soothed, injecting her with a purple substance, and Lily's face relaxed as the potion spread through her veins. James saw red – from both rage and exhaustion – and now he understood why Lily felt the way she did. Lily was the least deserving of anyone to be tortured. She was perfect, an angel, a martyr, and watching her lie on a hospital bed, all her usual fire and spirit gone, was more than James could bear. "Are you Mr. Potter?" the Healer inquired, bringing James back to earth. He nodded. "Your wife is going to be just fine," the Healer – whose nametag read _Elizabeth_ – reassured him, and his knees nearly buckled with the relief. "I've treated her wounds and given her some Dreamless Sleep potion. She's been through the mill – both her legs were broken, she had some bruised ribs, her wrists and left ankle were sprained, and her nose was fractured. What in the world happened?"

"Voldemort threw her into a streetlight," James murmured, ignoring Elizabeth's scared squeak at the sound of the Dark Lord's name. "When can she come home?"

"As soon as she wakes up," Elizabeth replied. "I'd let her sleep, if I were you. We can get you a bed for the night, if you'd like."

"No. You're probably running out of beds quickly. I can take care of it." Using a spell to turn the single bed into a double, James climbed in next to Lily. Elizabeth poured him a goblet of the same purple potion she had injected into Lily and drew the curtains around the two of them. James fell asleep almost instantly after finishing his potion and softly kissing Lily's temple, but the last thought that went through his mind was: _Just you wait, Voldemort. You won't know what hit you when I get to you._


	6. Plots and Tears

Chapter 5 – Plots and Schemes

A/N: This next chapter is mostly sucky filler stuff. Next chapter is the second defiance, and then Lily gets pregnant…and things get _much _more interesting, I promise. Honestly, I think this story is going to be a bit darker than I originally planned, but that's war for you. I'll try to put some more humor in where I can. Also…am I the only one who wishes they could've been Voldemort's therapist and prevented all this from happening? (Haha, am I the only MAJOR DORK here?) R&R!

Disclaimer: JKR could write a Voldemort/Death Eater scene way better than this.

Tom Marvolo Riddle was seething. That little Mudblood, that contaminated bitch! How _dare_ she touch him, how dare she speak to him that way, how dare she even look at him! "Out," he commanded to Bellatrix Lestrange, his most faithful servant, who retreated immediately, murmuring her allegiance. As a Mudblood, the redhead had been on his List by default, as had James Potter as a blood traitor, but thanks to their antics last night, they'd moved up a few places. The redhaired brat's shrieks of hatred rang in his ears. _"You little suck!"_

"_The Potters dare to disrespect their superiors,_" he hissed angrily to Nagini, who nodded somberly. The Dark Lord paced back and forth furiously across the room. Why did the Mudbloods and Order members think that they could win? It just made his noble job even harder to complete. _Because with Dumbledore on their side, they have a chance at winning_, a voice hissed in the back of his mind, which he quelled hurriedly. Dumbledore was a great sorcerer, there was no doubt, but he was no match for Lord Voldemort, the greatest and most feared sorcerer the world had ever seen, more powerful than even Grindelwald. _Dumbledore._ Tom Riddle's blood boiled at the thought of the wizened old man, the man who believed in the most ridiculous things like love and trust. Lord Voldemort always told everyone, even himself, that he feared nothing, but this was not true. Riddle feared three things: death, the unknown, and Dumbledore. Death and unknown were, essentially, the same things: fear of anything that he could not control or learn about. Riddle would never admit it to anyone – not to the Malfoys, not to Bellatrix, not even to Nagini – would never admit the fact that he feared Dumbledore above all else. Dumbledore knew more about the Dark Lord than anybody, save Riddle himself. Dumbledore had introduced Tom to the world of magic, and had heard all the secrets that the young Lord Voldemort had spilled in his excitement, secrets he should never have shared. Dumbledore, Voldemort had to grudgingly admit, was a brilliant man. He out of all the other teachers knew that Riddle was someone not to be trusted, that under his external handsomeness and charm lay a heart that was fueled by evil.

The one thing that the Dark Lord took from his Muggle schooling and reading of Muggle literature was that power should be the face of mystery. The wars of his childhood had been proof of this – would the Japanese have followed Emperor Hirohito as blindly, as unconditionally, had they knew all of his flaws and personality traits? Many of the Japanese thought that Hirohito was a figurehead or a god – the first time they had heard his voice was when he announced Japan's surrender on the radio. Would the citizens of Oceania have revered Big Brother the way they did if Big Brother had been an actual person? No. Voldemort knew that he couldn't have anyone who knew who he really was alive and plotting against him. It was his first priority to have Dumbledore taken down. "_Get the others_," he hissed to Nagini, who nodded her scaly head and slithered out the door. He had scheming to do.

***

"As many of you may know," Dumbledore said somberly, taking off his half-moon glasses and rubbing his eyes, "we lost a good woman last night." James and Lily, having spent the day in St. Mungo's and then at home, held hands under the table, anxious. "Marlene McKinnon has passed."

Most of the Order members had either heard the news or seen her death, and hung their heads. Lily, however, was taken completely by surprise. "No!" she whispered. James' hand squeezed tighter around hers. Dumbledore held a moment of silence before moving on with the day's pressing concerns, but all his words went in one of Lily's ears and out the other. _Marly…gone. Gone forever._ Marly, her dormmate and one of her best friends. _Oh, Merlin._ Feeling the lump in her throat grow to the size of a grapefruit, Lily jumped up and slammed out of the room, James close behind.

The funeral was beautiful, Lily had to admit. There were piles of white roses – Marlene's favorite flower – on every surface, and music played softly as the guests filed into their seats. "Chins up," Hazel, Marlene's mother, urged to Lily and James. "Marlene would want you to be happy." _How can you smile at a time like this?_ James thought incredulously. _How can you tell us to be happy?_ He groped for Lily's hand, but the redhead had spotted a brown-haired girl in the back of the church wearing a simple black dress. The two girls clasped hands, and Lily led her back to James.

"Mary," James said, enveloping her skinny form in a hug.

Mary MacDonald pushed an espresso curl out of her red-rimmed eyes. "Merlin, you guys, how could it be Marly?" she asked in a whisper. "Okay, so she took a few Death Eaters with her, but how could she let this happen?"

"Shhhhh," Lily soothed, snaking an arm around Mary's shaking shoulders. "It's not Marly's fault, you know that." James brought the Marauders over to a group of Lily's near-hysterical dormmates, and the girls all joined hands, remembering different times with Marly as the ceremony began.

After the reception, Mary, Lily, James and Sirius went to lunch at an Italian restaurant in the West End. "Remember Venice?" Lily asked, gazing wistfully at the window next to her and willing it to sprout into a Venetian canal. "And how we had to dine and dash?"

Mary gave a watery giggle. "Remind me why we can't just go and have lunch there?"

"Merlin, that maitre'd probably has pictures of our faces on the wall," Sirius said. "He had _crazy eyes,_ he did," the Animagus added dramatically, and the four friends laughed. "Oh, Merlin, remember James and Lily's disaster of a date?"

Mary, Sirius, and Lily burst into laughter while James folded his arms and tried to look angry, but ruined the whole act by smiling. "Oh, God," Lily choked. "Gondola…waves…kiss…_reeee-ooo_!" she finished, giggling. "That was _hilarious_."

"You had to save me from drowning!" James said, feeling a bit emasculated. "And we're lucky we didn't get typhus from that disgusting canal water!"

"What's up, James?" Lily asked, poking him playfully. "Do you _want_ me to be mad at you?" James shook his head, and they all laughed. Just then, the waiter brought four glasses of red wine to their table.

"To Marly," Sirius said, raising his glass. The giggling subsided at once.

"Marly," they all echoed, drinking deeply. It began to rain, and the four friends ate, drank and talked for a long time before paying the bill and making a break for it to a place to Apparate back to their homes.


	7. Defiance II

Chapter 6 – Defiance II

A/N: You guys, I am SO SORRY that it has been SO LONG! Last chapter was a little short. Hopefully this one will be better.

Disclaimer: JK Rowling doesn't have to listen to people talk about romanticism.

"'_And what if I wave my wand and nothing happens?'…'Throw it away and punch him in the nose.'" _– Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, _Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone_

Lily loved her cubicle. It was like a larger version of the cubby she'd had in Muggle elementary school and, as far as cubicles go, she'd done a lot with it. She had a large coffee mug full of quills and jars of ink scattered around the top of her desk, and a drawer full of parchment. The dividers separating her cubicle from James' (the Auror cubicles were organized alphabetically) were made of ugly gray carpeting, which she had covered with swatches of red silk. On top of the silk she had pinned quite a few photographs: a photograph of her and James on their wedding day, a Muggle photo of her family, a picture of her, Mary, James and Sirius in Fiji, a couple Muggle postcards of beaches, and a Wizarding photograph Hermione had taken. In the photo, she and James were both waving and wearing borrowed bathrobes and their son, Harry, was sandwiched between them. _The Potters on Christmas Day,_ the bottom part of the Polaroid said. After several people had asked her if the boy was her nephew, Lily had cast a charm on the picture that made it invisible to everyone but her and James. On her desk sat a pot of Floo powder, several memos, an in/out box, and a miniature, moving model of a stag that James had given her as a cubicle-warming present. It would canter up and down her desk, annoy her when she tried to write things, nuzzle her hands and snooze in patches of sun. It was adorable. She'd put up several Tutshill Tornadoes posters and gotten a nice desk lantern, and the results were quite pleasant. The only time she ever really left it at work was when James came to get her for lunch, like right now. "Come on," he said, and she extinguished her lantern, took his hand, and walked with him to the lifts.

Arthur's robes were a bit shabbier than usual, and he had dark circles under his eyes. "Molly's pregnant again," he said with a smile. "She wants to name this one Ronald." Lily and James poked each other under the table, smiling at Arthur and congratulating him. "I've been up _all night_," Arthur grumbled. "Molly gets the strangest cravings all the time. Last night she wanted Maltesers. What in Merlin's name are Maltesers?"

"They're a Muggle candy," Lily explained. "They're chocolate malted milk balls. I'm surprised you didn't know that, Arthur."

The redhaired wizard shrugged. "Candy is candy, I suppose."

Just then, a lavender memo hit Lily right in the forehead. "All Aurors to the West End, mass Muggle killing in progress," she read, rubbing her forehead where the memo had poked it. "Come on."

Arthur looked at the young couple, wide-eyed. They were too young to risk their lives fighting such a horrible force that was Voldemort and the Death Eaters. "You two be careful, okay?"

"Thanks, Arthur," James said with a wan smile before grabbing Lily's hand and Apparating to the West End.

The West End was in full-blown chaos. An entire apartment building had been blasted apart. Masked figures, Aurors, and Order members were fighting each other, and one Muggle who was either very brave or very confused was running around like a chicken with his head cut off. "RAAAAAARGH!" he roared, running up to a masked man and aiming a kick at his head. The Death Eater flicked his wand lazily, and the flash of green light hit the Muggle so fast he was dead before he hit the ground. James sighed.

"_Accio!_" he shouted, pointing his wand at the Muggle, who zoomed over next to him. His face set with determined indifference, James dragged the body over to the Muggle's wife, who sobbed openly as she took him into her arms. "We're going to get you out of here, ma'am," said a member of Magical Law Enforcement, and he Side-Along-Apparated her and her husband's body off of the scene, most likely to St. Mungo's.

"So _gallant _of you, Jamie," a voice cackled maniacally. James groaned – he knew that voice. He turned around and ripped off the woman Death Eater's mask to reveal his old classmate, Bellatrix Black.

"Black?" he asked boredly. "Can you just make this quick?"

"Lestrange, now," she grinned, showing a mouthful of pointy teeth. "No, I don't think so. You're going to suffer, and I'm going to watch. _Cru-_," she began, her eyes wide with anticipation, before she was hit with a curse of her own.

"_Crucio!"_ Sirius bellowed, hitting Bellatrix with a beam of light directly between the eyes. She screamed, writhing on the pavement, and Sirius stood above her shouting. "Not so fun when you're on the receiving end, huh? You little bitch, how _dare_ you talk to my friends? How dare you threaten to hurt James – he's more family to me than you will _ever be_! He never called me a blood traitor or a bastard! _He_ never disowned me or refused to talk to me, and he turned out _way better than you_! You're married to _Rodolphus Lestrange_? That's like marrying a two-toed _sloth_! Have a nice life, you little _bitch_!"

He would have continued, had Lily not run up to the two of them and screeched "_Finite Incantatem!_" Sirius glared at her and she glared right back. "If you want to stoop to her level, Sirius, that's fine," Lily hissed. "It just makes you as bad as her." His face stony, Sirius Disapparated on the spot. _Shit_, Lily thought, but she didn't have time to really think about it, for she heard a manic cackle from behind.

"Mrs. Potter!" Bellatrix giggled. "If I were Jamie, I'd go for someone worthy of a pureblood, but whatever floats your boat, I suppose. I guess he likes fire-pubed Mudbloods."

"And I guess Rodolphus goes for stupid girls with no sense of hygiene that are more in love with a man more snake than human rather than their own husbands!"

Bellatrix gasped. "How _dare_ you speak that way to me, you little dirty-blooded magic stealer?" With that, she ran up to Lily and slapped her across the face.

Lily staggered, eyes watering, and she was livid when her head stopped spinning. "I'd pay you back in kind, but I don't want to dirty my hand," she hissed at the other girl. "_Furnunculus_!" The force of her curse was so strong that Bellatrix was knocked off her feet into a chain-link fence, and she screamed, both from the impact and from the angry boils that were sprouting on her face. "_Stupefy_!" Lily added, and the Death Eater slumped over, unconscious.

"That was very foolish of you, Mudblood," a high, cold voice sneered. Upon realizing that Lord Voldemort had entered the fray and sought her out _again_, several thoughts ran through Lily's head. The first one was a panicked blur of _OhMerlinohMerlinohMerlinI'mgoingtofuckingdie_, and the second and third occurred simultaneously, a combination of _What the hell, can't he just leave me alone?_ and _Good Lord, I'm getting jaded._

"_What_ do you want?" she asked irritably, turning to face the Dark Lord.

"Such _impudence, _Mudblood," he hissed, growing – was it possible? – redder and paler. "I've learned that you don't respond to physical pain. Let's try something different. _Legilimens_!"

Caught completely unawares, Voldemort's spell knocked invaded Lily's mind quickly and totally, dredging up her worst and most emotional memories. One, two, three, four, they flew through her mind like a sped-up slideshow. She watched, powerless, as Petunia spat the word "freak" at her for the first time on Platform 9 and ¾ before her first year of Hogwarts, as pickled things in jars exploded above Future Snape's head, as she dismissed a groveling Snape outside the Fat Lady's portrait, as she and James kissed on a Fijian beach, as Petunia slammed the door in Lily's face at a house in Surrey, and as she and James tumbled through time onto a bed in the Hogwart's boys dormitory and read the calendar that stated 1997 and – _No, Lily! No! Merlin, think about something else…um…think about…purple elephants! Yes, that's good. Purple elephants purple elephants purple elephants purple–_

As her brain filled with the images of purple elephants, Voldemort lifted the curse, but the damage was done. If the momentary flicker of shock crossing the Dark Lord's face wasn't a giveaway, the horrified look on Lily's face certainly was. "Oh, shit," she whispered.

"Shit indeed, magic thief," Voldemort replied with an evil grin. "You've just given me a reason to take a _personal interest_ in you. And trust me, there's no escape this time. I always win. Always."

"James!" Lily called. "_Chez Black immediatement_!" Fairly certain that none of the Death Eaters could speak French, she had taught James a few phrases as code. He sent purple wand sparks into the air to show he had heard, and Lily and James turned on the spot and Apparated to Sirius' bachelor pad.

A/N: Bwhoah! Cliffie! Again, sorry it's been so long. Junior year is sort of consuming my soul, and I had a tiny bit of writer's block, but I'm getting it back. Next chapter should be up soon – reviews help! (Haha, not-so-subtle hint much?)


	8. Oh, Merlin

Chapter 7 – Oh Merlin

Disclaimer: JK Rowling doesn't have to wait for Christmas Break because for her, EVERY DAY is Christmas Break.

"OhMerlinohMerlinohMerlinohMerlinohMerlin," Lily chanted as she had been chanting for the past five minutes. She took a gasping breath and continued. "OhMerlinohMerlinohMerlinohMerlinohMerlinohMerlin…"

"Lily!" James exclaimed. "For God's sake, what is the matter?"

"James," she said, locking in on him as though she had just noticed he was there. "He _knows_, James. He knows about – that thing!"

"Sweetheart, you're not making sense," James soothed. "Let's take a deep breath. What thing?"

"The thing!" Lily babbled. "You know, the Timeturner? And the _escapades_?"

James blanched. "_What_?" Lily just nodded, gasping for air, hands fluttering around her face in utter panic. "Oh no. Ohhhhhhh no. Oh Lily, this is bad. This is _so bad_."

"Um, _yeah_!" Lily yelped. "He – Legilimency – found out – took a _personal interest_ – always wins!"

"Okay," James breathed. "Okay. Okay. Um…okay. Let's think this through in a…rational way. Okay. Okay. So…Dumbledore is still fighting at the scene, so we can't go talk to him now. Okay. I guess we have an excuse for when he asks why we left so suddenly though. So…as soon as we can, we have to find Dumbledore and talk to him. Because if he's taken a personal interest in us…_Merlin_, this is bad."

"I know," Lily moaned, holding her face in her hands. "I didn't mean to, I swear!"

"I believe you," James assured her. "I wouldn't survive if he invaded my mind either. How'd you get him to lift it?"

"Thought about purple elephants," Lily responded absently. James snorted and she sat down next to him on the leather couch, resting her head on his shoulder. "James, what are we going to do?"

"Its okay, Lily," James soothed, kissing the top of her head. "Dumbledore's going to make this all right."

Just as Lily was leaning up to give James a proper kiss, the door to the apartment opened and slammed shut, and Sirius appeared, nursing a very large bottle of Ogden's Old Firewhiskey. "Prove yourselves, please," he said in a bored voice upon seeing the Potters on his couch. Lily cast her Patronus and James transformed into a stag and back, and Sirius moved into the kitchen, taking a giant pull off the Firewhiskey.

"Crap," Lily muttered, remembering what she had said to him in the West End. Getting off the couch, she followed Sirius into the kitchen. "Sirius?" she asked quietly.

Sirius just glared at her over the rim of his bottle. Lighting a magical, harm-free cigarette, he inhaled deeply, closing his eyes. "What?" he asked, expelling the smoke.

"I just wanted to say," Lily began, "that I'm really, really sorry about what I said earlier this evening. You will never be as bad as Bellabitch,"–Sirius grinned at their old nickname for Bellatrix–"And it was wrong of me to say it. I just don't want you to be consumed by hatred by your family."

"I know," Sirius sighed. "She's just such a _bitch_, you know?"

Lily nodded. "Believe me, I know. Remember that night in Fiji when Dumbledore told me that my parents were dead and I immediately Disapparated?" Sirius nodded. "I went to my sister's house in Little Whinging. She'd already found out, and then she told me that it was my fault they were dead and that she would never forgive me. She'd already been prejudiced against me when I got my Hogwarts letter, but this was just the cherry on top of a real sundae of crap." She grabbed the firewhiskey bottle from Sirius and took a sip, dejected.

"That _sucks_," Sirius said, a little tipsy now. "I think that from now on, we should be _disowned buddies_."

"That sounds great, Sirius," Lily said patiently. "How about you go take a nice nap, okay?"

"Sounds wonderful, Lilyflower," Sirius slurred, slapping a kiss on her cheek. "G'night." With that, he stumbled into his bedroom and closed the door. Lily returned to the living room.

"So," James said, amused. "You're _disowned buddies_?"

"Stop it," Lily chided with a smile. "You think Dumbledore is back yet?" Without waiting for a response, she pulled out her wand and cast her Patronus. "Go to Dumbledore," she told it. "Tell him that James and Lily Potter need to speak with him _immediately_. If he's still fighting, wait until he's done." The doe nuzzled her hand before taking off out the window and heading north.

"Now what?" James asked sleepily.

"Now, we wait," Lily murmured. "I know how we can kill some time." Pulling James' face toward hers, she climbed into his lap and pressed her lips to his. James kissed back, running his hands through her hair, all thoughts of time travel and Legilimency forgotten.

***

The phoenix Patronus came for them at three that morning. Lily was lying on top of James, still fully clothed, on Sirius' leather couch. Carefully lifting his arms off of her waist, she stood up and led the Patronus into the kitchen so as not to disturb him. "_Ms. Potter_," the phoenix began in Dumbledore's voice. "_I am available to speak with you and James about whatever it was you needed to discuss. I will most likely be in my office at Hogwarts. It is never too early or too late to stop by. The password is 'peppermint humbugs'._" As message ended and the phoenix dissolved, Lily sprang up, smoothing her hair with her hands and tiptoeing back into the living room.

"James!" she hissed urgently, and James opened one eye blearily. "Dumbledore is back, let's go!" Groggily, James jumped up and nodded. She grabbed his hand and, turning on the spot, they Apparated to the Hogwarts gates.

Using the special password that Dumbledore had given all the Order members on the gate, Lily opened it and ran up to the heavy wooden doors of the castle with James at her heels. A lump of nostalgia rose in her throat as she cast _Alohomora_, pushed the doors open, and looked upon the entrance hall, but she fought it down. There were more important things to deal with now.

The married couple arrived, breathless and panting, at the gargoyle guarding Dumbledore's office. "Peppermint – humbugs," James wheezed, and the gargoyle leapt aside to reveal the escalator-like stairs. "Merlin, I need to start playing Quidditch again," James gasped, massaging his ribs. "I'm so out of shape."

"According to you," Lily said with a smile. "But never mind that, we've got a situation on our hands." By this time, they had reached the top of the staircase and the door. Lily knocked and Dumbledore told them to enter.

Bursting into the busy office, Lily's mind was gone from the present in an instant. Memories of times in this office during her seven years at Hogwarts washed over her as she looked around at Fawkes the Phoenix, the whirring silver doohickeys, and the snoozing portraits. She remembered doing endless head duties, being called in to testify about Marauder pranks, and hanging a Timeturner around her and James' necks as they returned from the future – Merlin. The future. The reason why they were here crashed back into Lily's head like a freight train and she gulped nervously. "Professor," she greeted Dumbledore.

"Lily. James. Do come in," the old wizard beckoned kindly from his desk, blue eyes twinkling. "What is this emergency you contacted me about?"

"Er," Lily stuttered, unsure of how to say what she was going to say. "Well, first of all, we need to be somewhere private."

"We are in private, Ms. Potter," Dumbledore replied, bemused.

"No, I mean somewhere where the information can't get _around_," Lily said meaningfully, jerking her head towards the portraits.

"Ahhh." Several of the portraits squawked in outrage at their discretion being called into question, but Lily, James and Dumbledore all knew that aside from the Fat Lady and Violet, the headmaster and headmistress portraits were the biggest gossips in Hogwarts.

"Hang on, I know where we can go," James said suddenly. Leading them outside, he took them near the statue of Boris the Bewildered on the seventh floor. _We need a place to talk privately_, he thought, pacing back and forth three times, and led Lily and Dumbledore inside. "Isn't this cool, guys? Guys?" James asked, slightly disappointed at the less than awed reaction.

"I've been here before, James," Lily said. "You know, with Hermione and Ginny in – well, I suppose that's part of what we're here to talk about. Have a seat, professor." Dumbledore obliged, settling his wizened body in a squashy chintz armchair, and James and Lily took the couch, gripping each others' hands for courage. "In our seventh year…James and I time traveled into the future," Lily blurted out, and watched the old wizard's face, waiting for a reaction.

Dumbledore merely frowned slightly. "How did this occur?" he asked in a very serious tone. James gripped Lily's hand more tightly.

"Well…I was going up to Lily's dormitory to apologize to her for a prank I pulled," James began, and when Dumbledore's face seemed to ask for elaboration, James bowed his head. "Um…it was the prank where I altered a photograph of her so it looked like she was a…exotic dancer and posted it all over the castle." The old man nodded, his expression unchanging. "So…she was pretty upset. And I apologized, and she completely lost it and we started fighting…physically." Lily snorted at how dorky he sounded in spite of herself, but quickly rearranged her features to look somber again. "And in the tussle, her Timeturner was knocked off of her desk and somehow I guess it got wrapped around us and turned over, because we were sent to 1999."

Lily nodded. "And we–"

Dumbledore held up a hand. "Please don't tell me anything of what you learned there. It will only meddle with time further, which could be disastrous."

Lily nodded again. "Well tonight, we were fighting in the West End when Voldemort found me. _Again_. He performed Legilimency on me and found out that James and I had been to the future, and then when he lifted the spell, he told me that I had just given him a reason to take a _personal interest_ in me." Remembering the look in the Dark Lord's eyes, her hands began to flutter again. "Professor, what do we do?"

"First, Ms. Potter," the old man said, placing a hand on knee, "I need you to calm down. You did the right thing telling me this. I can protect you as much as you need."

"Okay," Lily said, taking a deep breath. "Okay. What kind of protection do you think we need?"

Dumbledore mused for a moment. "I suppose…to your knowledge, does anyone know where you live that might tell the Death Eaters?" The two shook their heads. "Right. Well. Voldemort's going to want to interrogate you about what you learned in the future so he can prevent any mistakes being made." James looked at Lily, who bit her lip. If Voldemort cracked either one of them, he would find out about a _whopper_ of a mistake he had made. "He already knows that you are married Aurors and Order members. Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to make your house Unplottable and apprehend any Death Eaters that come within 50 meters of your house. If, in battle, you are at risk of being captured, get away _immediately_ or make yourselves unavailable – using whatever means possible. Neither one of you should go anywhere at night without the other, and you should tread carefully around anyone you don't trust completely. Let's try these security measures out and, if you don't feel safe, let me know."

Lily smiled, relieved. Help was here. "Thank you _so much_, Professor Dumbledore," she said. "This really makes me feel better." She and James shook his hand, left the Room of Requirement, and headed down to the Great Hall, intent on getting a free meal and stirring up some old memories.


	9. The Way You Look Tonight

Chapter 8 – The Way You Look Tonight

A/N: I bet you all guess what happens in this chapter. Warning: severe fluffiness and an abundance of "awwww" moments ahead!

Disclaimer: Same as before.

Dumbledore's protection worked quite well. Lily and James saw neither hide nor hair of any Death Eaters for the next few months, as summer turned to fall. Halloween dawned like any other day. Lily and James woke at seven, dressed, and got ready. Entering the tiny kitchen, Lily started a fire and prepared tea while James got out some bread and jam and began making breakfast. Over tea and toast, James spoke up just as he finished his last bite. "So…I'm meeting Remus and Sirius for a drink at the Leaky Cauldron around four."

"Okay," Lily replied. "Just be home before dark." James smiled smugly to himself as she grabbed his arm and they Apparated into the Ministry. She had no idea what was coming.

Lily slogged her way through paperwork, barely breaking for lunch, until 4:15, when a knock sounded on the wall of her cubicle. "Come in," she called, looking up from her parchment. "Oh, hi Remus – wait, Remus? Aren't you supposed to be having a drink with James right now?"

"Um," Remus said, adopting a look similar to that of a dog caught doing something bad. "I…yes, I'm running late. I should do that now." Lily narrowed her eyes as he left, but didn't head for the lifts. Something was up, and she intended to find out what.

She found out just what was up when she Apparated into their kitchen and hung her cloak on a hook. "James?" she called. "You home yet?"

"Uh, yeah!" James' voice called from the living room, sounding harried. "Lily…could you Apparate upstairs for a minute?"

"Why?" Lily asked, immediately suspicious. "James Potter, what did you do–" she began, but upon entering the living room, she stopped short, gaping in awe.

The living room as she knew it was gone. It had been Transfigured into a ballroom, complete with a parquet floor, a slowing revolving disco ball, hundreds of floating candles, and a single table in the corner with two sautéed chicken breasts with rice and a bouquet of frangipanis, lilies, and red roses on it, and a bottle of champagne chilling next to it. James turned, struggling with his bowtie. "Well, crap," he muttered, flicking his wand so that his bowtie tied itself perfectly. With another flick of his wand, Tony Bennett's "The Way You Look Tonight" came floating softly out of thin air and he beamed. "Dance with me?" he asked hesitantly.

Lily walked slowly out to the middle of the dance floor. "This – this is one of my favorite songs," she said, awed.

James nodded. "I know."

"And these…these are my favorite flowers, and this is my favorite food…and…and James, this is my favorite brand of champagne."

James nodded, smiling. "I know, love."

Eyes brimming with tears, Lily turned to face him. "What's the occasion?" she asked, a smile lighting up her whole face. "I know I haven't forgotten any birthdays or anything."

James cleared his throat nervously. "Well…last night, I was watching you sleep. And I know that's creepy, but I couldn't sleep and I looked down at you and…Lily, I was transfixed. You just looked so…so _perfect_, and I realized how lucky I am that you even deign to _look_ at me, much less love me. And I decided that I don't tell you how much I love and appreciate you enough, so…Lily? I love you so much. I've loved you since we got back from 1999, and the day we kissed on that airplane was one of the best days of my life."

The tears had long since spilled over, but when Lily spoke, her voice was very steady. "Oh, James," she said, coming up to him and linking her hands with his. "How can you even say that you don't tell me you love and appreciate me? You've said it to me so many times. You said it when you gave me the charm bracelet when I graduated, you said it in Fiji when you told me you would care for me for the rest of my life, you said it when you proposed to me, you said it when you married me, and you say it every morning when I wake up with your arms wrapped around me. I can't believe that _you're_ with _me_! I just…every day that I get to spend with you is the best day of my life."

"Any day that I don't tell you how much I love you is a day wasted," James said stoutly, though his cheeks glowed pink from her praise. "So now, I'm going to say it again. Lily, I love you." He pulled a small box out of his pocket and handed it to her. Lily opened the box and found the fourth charm for the charm bracelet James had given her – a small ruby heart. "And don't you forget it," he added, Summoning her bracelet so that he could fix it on and hook it around her wrist.

"Oh, _James_," Lily said, tears streaming down her cheeks. Flinging her arms around his neck, she kissed him long and hard.

"Champagne?" James asked when Lily finally pulled back for some air. Tony Bennett was still crooning in the background as he led her over to the table and poured them two flutes. "Cheers." They clinked glasses and drank, letting the bubbles go to their brains and fill them with giddy happiness. "And now, Lily, will you dance with me?"

Lily waved her wand, and her clothes were Transfigured into her favorite green satin dress, kitten heels, and her diamond earrings. "Yes, James, I will dance with you," she said, eyes glittering as James led her out to the middle of the dance floor, and they swayed there in slow motion as Tony Bennett turned to Billie Holiday, who turned to Ella Fitzgerald, who turned to Frank Sinatra and played on.

"I'm surprised you knew so much Muggle music," Lily said later as she and James were eating their chicken.

James smiled, trying his hardest not to look smug at a very successful operation. "Yeah…I went to the Muggle library and asked the lady there to tell me about romantic music."

Lily couldn't stop grinning. "I should've known something was up as soon as Remus showed up at my cubicle at 4:15! I just…I can't believe you did all this, James. I love it. I love you. And I love the disco ball – it's the perfect amount of romantic corniness."

James snickered in spite of himself. "I got the idea from the lighting at Sirius' place." He and Lily laughed as they poured themselves more champagne, toasted, and drank.

Several hours later, they were nicely buzzed and feeling extremely content. "Moon River" was drifting out of what appeared to be nowhere, and James was whispering sweet nothings into Lily's ear as she blushed and giggled.

"Enough of this," she whispered finally. "Let's move the party upstairs." It was past ten, and way too late for any trick-or-treaters to bother them. James was very partial to that idea, scooped her up and carried her upstairs, laying her onto their bed and unzipping her dress as she undid his bowtie.

And as their lips met in a feverish, passionate kiss, they both knew what was going to happen in the back of their minds. Whether they would be prepared for it when it actually happened was another story.


	10. You Totally Saw It Coming

Chapter 9 – You Totally Saw It Coming

Disclaimer: JK Rowling didn't leave her power cord at school today. Nor does she go to school.

A/N: AHHH YOU GUYS I AM SO SORRY I'VE BEEN OUT OF TOUCH!!! I had some soul-eating school stuff to do…but now it's Christmas break and I promise I'll update more frequently! I'm SO SORRY!!!

Pushing a sweaty lock of red hair out of her eyes, Lily groaned and got to her feet, flushing the toilet. Splashing some cold water on her clammy face and brushing her teeth to get the taste of stomach out of her mouth, she looked in the mirror. This whole sickness thing was getting _old_. It had been happening for about three weeks now every morning and – Lily froze in front of the mirror, toothbrush still in her mouth and eyes widening. _Oh, Merlin_.

Seconds later, she was sitting on the bathroom counter. Whispering an incantation, Lily held her wand to her stomach. A pink cross floated out of the tip and vanished into thin air and she blanched. _Ohhhhhh, Merlin_.

Heading downstairs, she saw James eating a bowl of oatmeal with brown sugar. "Um, James?" she squeaked and he looked up, smiling. "How would you spend your last two years on Earth?"

***

The Healer ran her wand over Lily's stomach – _which was looking heavier, oh Merlin_ – James thought, and smiled. "Congratulations, you two. Lily is four weeks pregnant, and it's a boy."

"A boy," Lily repeated faintly. "A son."

The matronly Healer's smile grew wider. "That's right, poppet. You're going to be parents!"

After the appointment, Lily and James stood on the Muggle London street outside Purge and Dowse, Ltd. "So…what now?" Lily asked, still reeling a bit.

"I guess we tell my parents," James said faintly. "We might as well do it before you're too far along to Apparate." With that, he grabbed Lily's hand and turned on the spot.

Lily hadn't been to the Potters' house in Godric's Hollow since she'd lived there before she and James were married, which was surprising as Godric's Hollow was a rather small village. Gulping, she mounted the steps to the front door and rang the bell, James following.

Ms. Potter opened the door, her matronly face breaking into delight upon seeing her son and daughter-in-law on the stoop. "Lily! James!" she cried, opening the screen door. "Come in!" Lily grabbed James' hand and the expecting couple stepped over the threshold into the front hall. "Harold, James and Lily are here!" she called, and Mr. Potter thundered down the stairs into the front hall. "What do we owe this visit to?" Ms. Potter asked, thrilled, as Mr. Potter led them all into the living room.

"Well," Lily said, deciding to take the plunge. "I'm pregnant!"

***

"That was…intense," James said when the couple returned to their cottage almost three hours later, both a little shell-shocked. Ms. Potter had been near-hysterical with happiness and excitement and had immediately given everyone drinks – Firewhiskey for James and the elder Potters, ginger ale for Lily – and made toasts "to our grandson, Harry Potter!" Lily and James had finally gotten over their shock that they were going to have a son, and had a little over two years to live, and had started to be happy. They were going to have a son, they were going to be _parents_! As soon as James unlocked the door, Lily went into the kitchen, sat down at the table, and began to pore over the stacks of literature that the Healer had given her, things like "What to Expect When You're Expecting", and "A List of Prohibited Charms, Spells, and Other Magical Activities". She read all evening, through dinner and until 9:00, when her head drooped forward and she fell asleep on a pamphlet entitled "Magically Powerful Baby Names". James smiled, picking her up and taking her upstairs. Yep, he was going to have a baby with her.

A/N: AGAIN, SO SO SO SORRY – both for the absence and the fact that this is so short. I promise that things pick up in the next chapter! I hope you like the little repeat of one of the chapter ends from the last story.


	11. It Starts

Chapter 10 – It Starts

Disclaimer: JK Rowling can afford to get Internet at her vacation home.

A/N: Guys…I've been a horrible person/author. Its Christmas break and I've basically been watching TV all day. I've been watching _PoA _bonus scenes for like an hour and then I decided to actually write. So this chapter is mostly dream sequences. I had a lot of fun with them in "Right Place, Wrong Time" and I wanted to do them again…sadly, they won't be as funny as some of the sequences from RPWT. This chapter will be a little bit short, but I PROMISE YOU that more is coming!!! I have a clear picture in my mind of how the rest of the story goes. Happy Holidays to all!

Lily ran and ran, but it wasn't fast enough. Looking behind her, terrified, Voldemort advanced upon her, yelling, "_It ends tonight_!" She was running, running, running, until there was a flash of blinding white light and she crumbled. When she came to, she was suspended upside down in midair over a large purple fire, surrounded by Death Eaters. "Where am I?" she rasped, and the Dark Lord stepped through a gap in the Death Eaters to face her, leering. "Welcome, Mudblood!" he exclaimed. Were it not for his sinister smile and the look of pure, unadulterated hatred in his eyes, he might as well have been bowing her into his home for Christmas Dinner.

"Fuck you," Lily choked out, the blood rushing to her head.

"Now, now, such language," Voldemort hissed, tracing the outline of her jaw with a long finger. "You're a pretty little thing, aren't you?" he said. "Pity you aren't fit to share the Earth with worthier people." He clapped his hands once, and her robes were transformed into a black bra and lace underwear. "Who wants to go first?" the Dark Lord called to the crowd, and Lucius Malfoy stepped forward, his eyes flashing dangerously…

Lily sprang out of bed, ran to the toilet, and emptied the contents of her stomach into it. Wiping hot tears out of her eyes, she flushed the toilet, closed the lid and lay her head on the cool porcelain for what seemed like hours, a cold sweat breaking out on her forehead and stomach acid burning in her mouth. The burning had almost faded and the sun was rising when she finally felt James' hand stroking her hair, even though he'd been there for some time. "What happened?" he asked, hearing her breath hitch.

"Baby," she muttered, and was relieved when he didn't question her further. _We're into enough crap without my mind going off on its own_, she thought to herself, standing up to take her hair out of its messy bun and start the water for a shower.

***

For the next few months, Lily's mind functioned normally, and she forgot about the dream rather quickly. It was a very stressful time to be a pregnant Auror, and her life was busy. Even though her friends and coworkers knew that she was expecting, she performed an Illusion Charm on her stomach every morning so that it would lie nice and flat, even though she felt the bulge under her clothes, on the off chance that they would be called to a scene. The less the Death Eaters knew about her life, the better. If in the past, three months had flown by on the wings of the dove, the three months between Lily's dream and the day that Amelia Bones stopped by her cubicle before lunch to ask her if she wanted some tea in the break room flew by on the wings of a gross-looking crow that was breathing down her neck as a constant reminder of the danger she was in every time she turned around. But she put it all in a dusty, seldom-used corner of her mind and went about with her life.

On a blustery day at the end of March, Lily was straightening up stacks of parchment, putting all her quills pointy-end-down in her mug, and perching her stag figurine on top of her in/out box before lunch when Amelia Bones poked her head into the redhead's cubicle. "Lily, would you mind coming with me?" she asked. It wasn't until Lily straightened up and followed Amelia out into the narrow hallway between the mazes of cubicles that she noticed the office was completely empty. Her heart began to race. "Am I in trouble?" she asked, feeling like she was back at school again. Amelia shook her head. "Is _James_ in trouble?" she asked, this scenario being much more likely. "Oh Merlin, what did he do? I _told_ him not to bewitch the paper shredder so that it regurgitated the paper into your face but he just _never listens_, and–"

"–Relax, Lily!" Amelia exclaimed, laughing. "I just want to get a cup of tea with you, okay? Good Lord, pregnant ladies jump to conclusions quickly."

"I do that a lot, actually," Lily muttered, reddening. "But yes, I would love to get a cup with you, Amelia."

"Lovely," Amelia said with a smile, pushing open the break room door for Lily.

"_SURPRISE!_" what seemed like every female Auror and female member of the Magical Law Enforcement Squad and Accidental Magical Reversal Squad shrieked, all holding presents and standing a table laden with food beneath a huge banner that proclaimed, in light blue letters, _It's A Boy!_

Lily shrieked in delight, and a plate of food and glass of sparkling cider was passed to her. "To Harry!" someone shouted, and everyone echoed the toast and drank.

Lily stumbled home at five, sober but with a raging sugar high and carrying another Undetectable Extension Charm box full of baby clothes and other presents. James was already in the kitchen, smelling of smoke and downing a glass of water. "Cigar party?" Lily asked, and he nodded.

"Baby shower?" he asked, and Lily grinned, spilling baby clothes and toys onto the table. There were rompers, bottles, one of those bouncy chairs, and tons of other things. They sorted stuff, ate dinner, and piled all the baby things into Harry's future room just before bed. "We need furniture," James observed, and Lily nodded before retreating, sleepy, into the master bathroom to brush her teeth.

Tossing and turning, Lily's mind was running away from her, exploring all the horrible thoughts she kept locked safely away in her subconscious and bringing them to the surface…

…She was sitting in an abandoned warehouse, reminiscent of the villain hideouts in the Muggle detective shows she was always watching during her summer breaks from Hogwarts. "_Crucio_!" a high, cold voice hissed, and Lily's body writhed as she screamed her lungs out, hoping that someone, anyone would hear. Voldemort lifted the curse and Lily saw the silhouette of a hooked nose and some long hair. "Sev," she whispered. "Severus!" she shouted. "_Help me_!"

Severus turned towards his old friend and Lily recoiled, horrified. His pupils were a milky white, and he didn't recognize anything. "Kill the Mudblood," he said in a dull voice, looking right through Lily as though she didn't matter. "Mudblood. Mudblood. Mudblood. Mudblood. Mudblood…"

…Lily sat bolt upright in bed, gasping for air and pushing her hair out of her face. Putting her hands on her stomach, she felt Harry kick, indignant over her pounding heart. "Sorry, baby," she whispered before lying back down, staring at James' moonlit hair and feeling jealousy bubble around in her stomach that he could sleep peacefully at night.


	12. Defiance III

Chapter 11 – Defiance III

Disclaimer: How are you not getting this? I'm not JKR! Never was, never will be! Why must you torture me so! Gah!

A/N: See, new chapter! Also, for anyone who's confused as to why Lily keeps having nightmares, Voldy's invading her mind to make her suffer.

It was the middle of the night when the phoenix Patronus slipped into Lily and James' room and opened its mouth. "_Battle between Death Eaters, Muggles, and Scottish Aurors taking place in Glasgow, kindly respond immediately._" Yawning and rubbing their eyes groggily, Lily and James dragged themselves out of bed to pull on jeans, sweaters and robes, and Apparate to Glasgow.

James had been to Glasgow once before, on a vacation as a child, but that Glasgow and the Glasgow he looked at were very different. As a child, the buildings had loomed, sparkling attractively, as Scots talked to him in thick accents. This Glasgow was burning, and screams rang in the night. _It never gets any easier_, James thought jadedly before running to assist Frank Longbottom, who was fighting Augustus Rookwood.

Lily was nervous to enter the fray, but at the sight of a Muggle toddler being tortured, all thoughts of death, dreams, and bewitched friends flew out of her head as she went over, knocked out the Death Eater, and handed the sobbing toddler to its equally hysterical mother.

***

Somewhere in the depths of a British forest, Nagini hissed and wound her body around Voldemort's shoulders as Rosier burst into the room, clutching the stitch in his chest. "My Lord," he gasped. "The Potters – have joined – the fight."

"Lovely," the Dark Lord murmured. "Give the order – take them _alive_ for questioning. The redhead should be the easiest to get to – I've been working on her for awhile." Rosier nodded and Apparated back to the battle. "_Soon, Nagini_," he hissed to his snakeling, and the beast nodded, twirling herself around a chair leg. "_Soon_."

***

Back in Glasgow, Lily had been fighting for what felt like several days before James caught up with her. "Voldemort knows we're here!" he shouted. "We have to go _now_!"

Lily nodded, but just as she turned to leave, a silhouette caught her eye – the silhouette of a hooked nose and a head of long hair. "Oh, Merlin," she whispered. "Severus." The whisper of the girl that Severus Snape had spent the last few years trying to forget traveled through the screaming, bangs, pops and shouting of the battle and floated softly into his ear. Turning, he felt his heart freefall into his toes as he took in three things – Lily was standing right in front of him, looking more beautiful than he remembered, James Potter was tugging on her arm, trying to get her to leave, and she was pregnant. As his black eyes flashed from her stomach to her ring to James' ring, the anger and hurt boiled up inside of him until it was too much to take.

"_Crucio_!" he bellowed, shooting the curse at James, who took it right in the gut. As he screamed and writhed on the pavement, Severus could hear Lily screeching at him to lift the curse, but he was deaf to her pleas. A yearning desire had filled every fiber of his being, a desire to make James feel the pain that he felt in his heart, mind and guts every morning when he woke up alone, when he had to face each day knowing that the one girl he would ever love wouldn't even deign to look at him. The burning, manic satisfaction at watching James suffer was filling him up from the bottom until a hand connected with the side of his head.

"That's _enough_!" Lily screamed. Reeling from the slap, he lost his concentration and the Cruciatus Curse was lifted. James moaned weakly, and Lily ran to him. "Let's get you out of here," she soothed, taking his hand and turning on the spot, attempting to Apparate them back to Godric's Hollow and safety. But the air she tried to move through was solid, like invisible concrete pressing against them.

Suddenly, masked figures surrounded them on all sides. Lily was shaking and James was lying prostrate on the sidewalk. Throwing herself over his body, she shrieked and dodged a Killing Curse thrown at her. "NO!" a voice shouted, a voice she recognized as Evan Rosier's. "The Dark Lord wants them alive for questioning, take them _alive_!" As hundreds of masked figures surged on Lily and James' forms, the rest of the Aurors and some Order members converged upon the Death Eaters, taking almost as many as Lily was by herself, firing hexes indiscriminately off her wand. Once the charm preventing her and James from Apparating was broken, she grabbed his arm and Apparated them back to Godric's Hollow and safety.

***

"_Imbeciles_!" the Dark Lord shouted at Lucius Malfoy, Severus Snape, and Rabastan Lestrange. "I give a _specific order_ to take the Potters _alive_, and what do you do? The exact opposite! _Crucio_!" Through intense concentration, Voldemort made three different streams of light leave the tip of his wand and hit each of the men, who writhed and shrieked in turn on the ground. Lifting the curse, he continued to roar at his loyal servants. "I expect nothing but the best from you next time! I don't want fear, danger or–" his eyes lingered on Snape "–_desire_ getting in the way of doing what _has to be done. Do I make myself clear_?" The three men expressed their comprehension and the Dark Lord banished them from the room, seething. Throwing a chair at the closed door, he took out his frustration by hissing all of his problems to Nagini, who hissed and slithered around the room, tasting different scents on the air. _No one understands_, he thought, and relayed that to Nagini. _No one could possibly understand why I need what I need._

"_That's what you'd prefer, though,_" Nagini hissed to him, and he grudgingly had to agree.

"_If you want anything done right, you have to do it yourself_," he hissed back, and Nagini nodded her scaly head in reply. The time had come for Lord Voldemort to take matters into his own hands. But first, that little Mudblood whore would pay for evading his capture for a third time.

***

James' wounds recovered with a good night's sleep and a little dittany, but Dumbledore came to visit them, bearing tea and some bad news. "That was too close a call," he warned. "I don't want you being at that great a risk of capture again. I'm going to make you reserve Aurors and Order members, which also works because Lily really shouldn't be fighting when she's so far along. You will only be called into combat if the battle turns extremely dire." Though Lily and James both didn't want to be sitting comfortably at home while their friends were risking their necks (it was rather like being in the National Guard instead of the Army during a war), they knew that they would be helping the Wizarding world more if they just stayed out of it. Dumbledore stayed for dinner at Lily's request, discussing tactics and strategies with James and how things at Hogwarts were changing with Lily. It was nearly midnight when he left and Lily fell into bed, exhausted, and having no clue what was ahead of her.

***

She was walking through her kitchen door and putting down her bags. "James?" she called. "You home yet?"

"Uh, yeah!" James' voice called from the living room, sounding harried. "Lily…could you Apparate upstairs for a minute?"

"Why?" Lily asked, immediately suspicious. "James Potter, what did you do–" she began, but upon entering the living room, she stopped short, gaping in awe.

The living room as she knew it was gone. It had been Transfigured into a dungeon, complete with stone floors and walls, bars on the windows, shackles, and a single table in the corner with a cracked pitcher of dirty water on it. Elaborate bouquets of thorns wound up the walls and covered the surfaces. James turned, struggling with a Death Eater mask. "Well, crap," he muttered.

Lily walked slowly out to the middle of the dance floor. "This – what is this?" she asked, shocked.

James smiled. "Well, Lily, I've been thinking and talking to some people. Rookwood and I got stuck in a lift together at the Ministry, and we got to talking, and now all this Death Eater philosophy makes sense to me! I mean, I'm a Pureblood, Lily! I could do so much better for myself. The Dark Lord has made me see the error of my ways in marrying a Muggle-born like you. I thought that blood didn't stand for much, but I was wrong. It's _everything_."

Lily advanced towards James, a grapefruit-sized lump blocking her throat. "I think you're ill, James," she said, her voice cracking. She reached out to feel his forehead but he slapped her hand away.

"Don't touch me you – you _Mudblood_!" James shouted. Lily looked deep into his hazel eyes and saw no trace of cloudiness or distance – just cold indifference. There was no spell put on James to make him act this way. He really believed that she was beneath him.

"I – you – I – you actually think that?" she breathed, praying as hard as she could that he would stop.

"Yes," James said, leering. "Thank God I saw the error of my ways before Harry was born. The little half-blood wouldn't do well when it came to keeping my bloodline pure. The Dark Lord told me that I need to prune my family tree, keep it fresh, and he was right. It's been fun, Lily. _Avada Kedavra_!"

A/N: Two new chapters! Bwhoahhh! Also, ilovedraco45's fanfic update schedule is now on Twitter! Just go to .com/ilovedraco45 (don't copy and paste, that doesn't work) and read about when I next plan to update, plus random stuff that I decide to post!


	13. Panic

Chapter 12 – Panic

A/N: Check out my Twitter – .com/ilovedraco45 – for notifications!

Disclaimer: JK Rowling is more Scottish than I am.

Tears streaming down her face, Lily leapt out of bed, heart pounding and head spinning. Goosebumps covered her arms and legs, and a cold sweat was breaking out on her forehead. Racing down the stairs to the kitchen, she paced around and around the table, wringing her hands. It popped into her head that sometimes Muggles breathed into paper bags to stop themselves from panicking, and she grabbed one from the kitchen drawer. After several minutes of breathing in and out, she felt calmer, sinking into a chair…until the kitchen light flipped on and James stepped into the kitchen. "Lily?" he asked. "Are you okay, love?"

Seeing his confused, bleary eyes and groggy face just sent Lily back into her panic attack. "Keep – _away_ – from me!" she shrieked, jumping out of her chair so fast that it fell over. "You – you – you," she stammered, at a loss for words, and stuck the paper bag back over her mouth. James tried to come over and put a soothing hand on her shoulder, but she jumped back as though burned. "Stay back!" she screeched. "No _Avada Kedavra_ for you!" The kitchen was getting smaller and smaller, and Lily pushed past a bug-eyed James, ran up to their room, and grabbed her wand. Summoning some clothes and a bag, she stared at James' form in the doorway with wide, crazy eyes. "You will _never hurt me_," she swore solemnly, turning on the spot and Apparating.

***

Mary MacDonald was sleeping soundly in her London apartment when Lily burst through her bedroom door, panting like she'd been running a marathon and sweating just as hard. Jerking out of her sound sleep, Mary's Order instincts took over and she grabbed her wand. "_Impedimenta_!" she screamed, freezing Lily in her tracks.

"The hell!" Lily yelped. "It's just me!"

"Are you _crazy_?" Mary yelped back. "We're in the middle of a _war_, and you expect me to be calm when you come bursting through my door in the middle of the night?" Calming her racing heart, Mary noticed that tears were streaming down Lily's cheeks. "Lily, what's wrong?" she asked, a little more kindly.

"James is a _Death Eater_," Lily wailed, pacing anxiously around the room as the Impediment Jinx lifted. "He – he said that he had been talking to Rookwood in an elevator and that he'd made a mistake marrying me and then he – he called me a _Mudblood_ and then he said that he had to prune his family tree and then he _killed_ me!" She burst into tears and flung herself onto Mary's bed with a howl.

"Lily," Mary reasoned. "Let's just step back and look at this for a second. James killed you, and yet you're here, alive. What happened _after_ he killed you?"

"I ran downstairs and breathed into a paper bag, and then he tried to get near me and I packed my bags and left," Lily recounted.

"What happened before you went downstairs?"

"I…oh. Bugger. I woke up."

Mary nodded. "There you go. It was just a bad dream, Lily, you'll be okay."

"No, I won't!" Lily said, wringing her hands. "The dreams never stop! First Lucius Malfoy raped me, then Severus totally blew me off, and then James left me! I don't know what to do; I'm scared to go to sleep!" She burst into a fresh wave of tears, and Mary sat next to Lily, rubbing her back and soothing her.

"Here's what I think," she said once Lily had calmed down. "I think you should go see Dumbledore, okay? I bet he could help you." Lily nodded, gulping wetly, and Mary cast her Patronus. "Go to Dumbledore," she said. "Tell him that Lily Potter is having a bit of a breakdown and that she needs to see him. Okay?" Her Patronus nodded and zipped out the bedroom window, heading north. "In the meantime, I think you should try to sleep, Lils." Lily shook her head fervently, but Mary pressed the idea. "I'll sit with you, like that time in sixth year when Derrick Meadows dumped you in the middle of Charms. Okay? And if you're having a nightmare, I'll wake you up." Eventually, Lily agreed and lay down on top of the bed, and Mary lay next to her, staring at the ceiling. _Damn this war_, she thought blackly. _It's ruining our lives_.

***

Dumbledore responded around two hours later, and Mary shook Lily awake. "Dumbledore will see you now," she whispered, and Lily nodded blearily.

s

"Thank you," she croaked, hugging Mary. "I miss living with you." Bidding Mary goodbye, Lily Apparated to the Hogwarts gates.

Dumbledore was sitting at his desk when Lily entered his office. Too late, she remembered that she was wearing pajama shorts and a camisole, showcasing her pregnant stomach very obviously, and she blushed from her head to the tips of her bare feet, conjuring herself a sweatshirt and a pair of shoes. If Dumbledore had noticed her rather inappropriate attire, he made no mention of it. "Ms. Potter," he said, nodding with a smile. "Please, sit." Lily sat in one of his squashy, chintz armchairs, and Dumbledore gazed at her over his half-moon glasses. "Now, what is the matter?"

"I'm, um, having nightmares," Lily said, regretting the words the moment they left her lips. _What the hell?_ she asked herself. _I came to Dumbledore because there are scary monsters in my dreams? He's going to think I'm an idiot!_

"On the contrary, Ms. Potter, I think this is a very big issue," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling, and Lily gaped before remembering that the old man was a superb Legilimens. "I believe that, after learning of your sojourn into the future, Lord Voldemort started performing Legilimency to try to weaken you mentally in order to delve into your mind and extract the memories of what you discovered in the 1990s, knowing that he wouldn't get very far if he attempted to interrogate you or James. I believe this is what is giving you the nightmares." Lily's chin trembled from unshed tears at the thought of the Dark Lord attacking her mind, trying to get secrets that were incredibly sensitive and could not fall into the wrong hands. "Fortunately," the headmaster continued, "there is a very simple solution."

Several hours later, Lily was collapsed into one of the armchairs, exhausted both from her limited amount of sleep and from the Occlumency training that Dumbledore had put her through. "Perhaps we should stop," he said, noting the bags under Lily's eyes. "Before you sleep each night, empty your mind and make it clear of emotion, understand?" Lily nodded, pinching herself to stay awake. "You should be all right, then," Dumbledore finished. "Take care of yourself and little Harry."

Knowing a dismissal when she heard one, Lily rose. "Thank you, Professor," she said gratefully, shaking his hand and stepping over to the door leading to the revolving staircase.

***

James was sitting at the kitchen table with his head in his hands when Lily let herself in the door. When James didn't act like he had heard her come in, she tried to tiptoe to the stairs and put her back away, but his hand flew out and seized her wrist as he passed. With a flick of his wand, he drew out a chair and Lily sat, nervous sweat breaking out on her brow. Also, she really had to pee. "James, let me explain please," she began.

"Lily," James interrupted. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I didn't want to put any more stress into our lives." Lily replied. "With a war, being Aurors and members of a covert operation, _and_ the fact that Voldemort has been attacking my mind, I wouldn't be surprised if Harry is born with an extra leg and a tail! How would worrying you help things?"

"Because I love you!" James shouted. "Because I'm your husband, and I'm supposed to take care of you, and how am I supposed to do that if you won't freaking _tell_ _me_ when you need to be taken care of? Going to the greengrocer for a pint of Chunky Monkey every other night isn't really what I had in mind when I said that I would love you and care for you until we died! I wanted to be your safety net. I didn't _ever_ want you to be afraid to tell me when you're in trouble. I'm supposed to worry about you, Lily," James finished. "That's what husbands do."

Lily sighed and Summoned two cups of oolong tea, adding cream and sugar. "I'm sorry, James," she said. "I'm seven months pregnant; I'm not exactly in what you'd call a rational state of mind." She took a deep sip and floated the other cup over to James, who took it. "Here's what's been happening. Dumbledore said that he's been trying to weaken my mind using Legilimency in order to try and extract the memories that I have from the experience. He assumed – and rightly so – that we wouldn't talk if interrogated, so he's been giving me nightmares so that I'll eventually be forced to let my guard down and give him access to the memories. The one I had last night was that you told me you were joining the Death Eaters and then you killed me to keep Harry from being born." Her voice broke on the last word; it was still painful to think about the words that Pseudo-James had said. "So first I went to see Mary, and then I went to see Dumbledore and he taught me some Occlumency. I think the dreams are going to go away."

"I love you," James said, taking her hand from his chair. "Don't make me have to remind you." He pulled out his chair and Lily sat on his lap, even though pregnancy had made her rather heavy.

"I love you too," Lily replied. "Oh! Harry's kicking!" James hurried to put his hand on her stomach and feel, and they sat like that for almost twenty minutes until Lily's head lolled onto James' shoulder and she fell asleep, with Harry still kicking away under James' hand.


	14. July 31, 1980

Chapter 13 – July 31, 1980

Disclaimer: JK Rowling doesn't have to go back to school tomorrow.

A/N: Guess who just hit 30 PAGES??? I owe it all to you guys! Thanks!

Spring slowly dwindled into summer and, as the weather grew hotter, Lily grew larger and crankier. "If I ever get pregnant during the summer again, remind me not to," she would grumble several times a day, waddling around the house and staring disparagingly at her gigantic belly.

July passed in a haze of heat, ice cubes, sweat, and a million mundane tasks that James had been asked to do. "Remember," the doctor had said. "Your wife is pregnant, and she's allowed her eccentricities. You've done great, you have one month to go." The days passed, Lily ate and slept, and James got really tired. _When will Harry freaking get here already!_ he thought, exasperated.

Harry finally freaking got there when Lily woke James up at 3:38 AM on July 31st, 1980. "James," she whispered. "James, I think my water broke."

"Wha?" James asked groggily, opening one eye.

"James, my – my –" Lily's words broke off in a low hiss of pain as a contraction tore through her.

"Oh, Merlin," James yelped, jumping out of the soaked bed. "Oh God, it's time. Okay…suitcase. Where…suitcase…_accio Lily's bag_!" Suitcase in hand, James ran to the kitchen and threw some Floo powder into the fireplace. Lily was tottering down the stairs, white, shaking and scared out of her mind, and James kissed her cheek. "Here we go," he said, more scared than the time that he had been dared to look the Slytherin bully, Travis Flint, in the eyes and stick out his tongue in first year. "Keep your legs crossed, and _be careful_. I'll be right behind you. I love you, Lily."

"I love you too," Lily huffed, kissing James' cheek before crossing her legs tightly, putting both hands on her stomach, and shouting "_St. Mungo's_!"

***

"_AHHHHHH!_ _James Harold Potter, I hate you SO MUCH!"_ Lily's face was a bright purple and she was screaming at the top of her lungs as she pushed.

"Its okay, Lily," James' mother soothed, rubbing Lily's hand and sponging her forehead with a wet cloth. "You're doing great, petal. Just keep pushing, and this will all be over."

"Don't worry," the nurse said to James. "All wives say those kinds of things to their husbands when they're in labor. She doesn't mean a word."

"Why didn't you give her a fucking epidural?" James muttered to the nurse, who clicked her tongue and resumed tending to Lily.

"_I SO DO! YOU DID THIS TO ME, POTTER! I AM GOING TO FREAKING AVADA KEDAVRA YOU WHEN THIS IS OV-AHHHHH!"_ Lily broke off into another scream.

"I love you, Lily," James said tentatively.

"_SHUT UP!_"

James gave up on talking to her after awhile, and focused on keeping her supplied with ice chips, which she chewed on like they were her lifeline. "Okay, Lily!" the nurse cheered. "One more big push, I can see the head! Big push! Big, big biggie push! You can do it!" With the combined forces of the nurse, James, and Ms. Potter cheering Lily on, she pushed her largest push yet, screaming bloody murder and…

…"_Wahhhhhhh_!" The shrill, thin wail broke the awed silence that had filled the room as a tiny, purple, gloop-covered Harry entered the world. Lily sighed in exhaustion and sat back against the pillows as a shaking James cut the umbilical cord and baby Harry was hosed off, swaddled in a blue blanket with a little knit beanie, and handed to his mother. His skin had faded from purple and was slowly turning nice and pink, like a baby's skin should be. He had stopped wailing and was taking in his surroundings curiously.

Lily traced his features with her ring finger so delicately, it was as if she was touching a butterfly's wing and was afraid of damaging it. She marveled at his chubby cheeks, his tiny fingernails and eyelashes, his twenty little fingers and toes, his shock of black hair, and his emerald green eyes that exactly matched her own. "Harry has my eyes," she whispered, awed. "Do you want to hold him, Daddy?"

"And my hair," James murmured, taking the tiny bundle. He was almost afraid to look the tiny bundle in the face – it was somewhat akin to looking straight into the sun. _Stop being a wuss, Potter_, he told himself eventually, and raked his eyes over his new son.

Little Harry was the picture of health. His skin was rosy and pink, and he had chubby cheeks and arms. There was a bolt of jet-black hair on his head, and his mother's emerald green eyes stared up at James curiously under long black eyelashes. His feet and most of his body was wrapped in a fuzzy blue blanket, but one hand was draped over the top. James gaped at it in awe – it was one of the tiniest things he had ever seen, with five perfect little fingers and fingernails, each nail about the size of a speck of dust. "Holy crap," he breathed, completely lost for words, and Lily squeezed his arm.

"I love you, James," she said sleepily, and before James could reply, she had conked out against her pillows, completely exhausted.

Smiling fondly, James stared at his wife's sleeping form before taking his son – _my son_ – out to the waiting room, where a crowd of people was gathered, including Sirius, Remus, Peter, Mary, his father, a couple of Lily's dormmates, Frank and Alice Longbottom, the Prewetts, Arthur Weasley, Amelia Bones, and Hagrid, who took up three chairs. A hush fell over the small crowd and James emerged through the double doors into the waiting room. "Ladies and Gentleman," James said grandiosely, feeling rather giddy. "I would like to introduce you to my son, Harry James Potter." Everyone burst into cheers and applause. Sirius had brought cigars for everyone, but a passing nurse told him not to light them until Harry was safely in the nursery, away from the harmful smoke. James showed him off to everyone, who all agreed that they had never seen a more perfect boy. Grandpa Potter took a turn holding Harry (Grandma had already taken a turn back in Lily's room), and slowly the crowd dwindled until it was just James and the Marauders, Lily's friends promising to stop by the next day when she woke up. James reluctantly handed Harry off to a nurse and, with the baby out of the smoke's air, Sirius lit up all the cigars.

"This is disgusting," Remus said after about fifteen minutes of the four men puffing away outside the nursery, where they were watching Harry sleep.

Peter nodded in agreement. "This is like if somebody made me smoke Snape's jockstrap."

"Thanks, Peter," James said, turning away from the window. "I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit." With the unpleasant images of Snape's jockstrap in their head, the cigars were snuffed out soon after, and Peter and Remus left after awhile, both saying they had to get to work early.

After watching Harry sleep for what seemed like a million years, Sirius yawned and stretched. "I should go, I have to work tomorrow too," he said, but James stopped him.

"Padfoot…you'll be the godfather, right?"

Sirius was stunned into silence, but only for a second before a huge smile broke over his face. "_Hell yeah_ I'll be the godfather," he said, clapping James on the back, and they hugged briefly before pulling away, clearing their throats in a masculine way, pressing their noses back against the glass. "You did okay for yourself, Prongsie-poo," Sirius said after awhile. "You did okay."

James smiled at hearing his old, hated nickname. "Thanks Padface," he shot back, grinning. "I'm glad you're going to be in his life."

A/N: Yay! Welcome to the series, Harry! If I have his birth year wrong, PLEASE TELL ME! (Also just to clarify, _Prongsie-poo_ is the hated nickname. Just regular _Prongs_ is not.)


	15. Trelawney's Prediction

Chapter 14 – Trelawney's Prediction

Disclaimer: Still not JKR, despite my best efforts.

"_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..." – _Sybill Trelawney_, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix_

Albus Dumbledore entered his office, taking off his wet traveling coat and performing a drying charm on the soaking hem of his robes. As he eased into his chair with a sigh as Fawkes fluttered onto his shoulder, he contemplated one of the strangest interviews he had ever had.

He had met Sybill Trelawney in the Hog's Head at 8:30. "Aberforth," he greeted his brother cordially as he approached the bar. "Some oak-matured mead would be welcomed."

"Albus," Aberforth grunted coolly. "Haven't seen you 'round for awhile. What brings you out here?"

"Interview," the silver-haired wizard absently, reaching into his pocket for thirty Sickles. "Here you go."

Aberforth shook his head. "You don't pay here, Albus."

"Yes I do," Albus said, shaking his head right back. They stared at each other for a couple minutes before Albus said "_Aberforth_, I am _paying_ for my _drink_."

"Fine," Aberforth said shortly, letting the thirty Sickles drop into his hand and moving down the bar to serve Firewhiskeys to a pack of rowdy goblins.

"Fine," Albus repeated posthumously, staring at the spot where his brother had stood moments before.

"Professor Dumbledore?" a soft, mystical voice broke his train of thought. He turned to see a practically emaciated woman with dark hair, draped in a number of beads, shawls, and a pair of coke-bottle glasses that she had tried to accessorize with a delicate, filigree chain.

"Miss Trelawney," Dumbledore replied, taking her hand and kissing it lightly. "So nice to finally meet you. Shall we go upstairs?" he asked, after hearing a man yell "_So then I says, I says to her, 'Is that a mirror in your pocket? 'Cos I can see myself in your robes!'_" and a bout of raucous laughter followed the drunken yell.

Once they were situated in her room, (_which was filthy_, Dumbledore noticed,_ what is Abe doing in his spare time?_), the slight woman situated herself in the desk chair and Albus took the bed, grimacing to himself as he sensed the bedbugs crawling in the mattress. "So, Miss Trelawney," he began. "You claim to be a gifted Seer." After a long, tedious interview, in which Dumbledore decided that Sybill Trelawney was more suited to Dramatics than Divination, he stood up, stifling a small yawn. "Thank you very much for your time. I'll contact you if a position becomes available, Miss Trelawney – Miss Trelawney?" For Sybill's eyes had clouded over and she had gone rigid in her chair, save for one shaking hand she was pointing at the old Professor.

Just as he was about to wave his wand and say, "_Anapneo_," she took a deep, rattling breath and started to speak in harsh, hoarse tones, ones that Albus had only read about in books before. _"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."_

She had snapped out of her trance less than five seconds after finishing her prophecy, and Albus had just told her that she was hired when they'd heard loud shouting at the door. He had opened it to see Aberforth holding none other than a struggling Severus Snape by the ear. "I caught _this_ one listening at the door," he said.

Though light surprise was the only thing that registered on Dumbledore's features, the old man's heart stopped and sunk at the same time. Albus had always known that Severus was likely to be recruited by Lord Voldemort, as his Potions skills would come in handy, but at the same time, he had hoped that Severus would have been better that. "Thank you, Aberforth," he said quietly, and Aberforth shoved Snape down the stairs and frog-marched him to the door.

"Well, _really_!" Trelawney said, somewhat haughtily. "Quite rude." Dumbledore bid her goodnight before Apparating to the castle gates and hurrying up to the study as fast as he could to store the memory in his Pensieve before the words faded from his mind. Now, sitting in his office and stroking Fawkes' wing, Dumbledore thought back on the prophecy. Conjuring a quill, a bottle of ink, and a scroll of parchment, he wrote out the prophecy and began to dissect it, piece by piece, fully aware that somewhere out there, Voldemort was doing the same thing.

***

Lily woke from a peaceful, dreamless sleep to a thin, wailing sound. "_Merrrrrlinnnn_," she groaned into her pillow. "James," she mumbled, poking him. "James, Harry's hungry again."

"'S your night," James mumbled back, turning over and trying to go back to sleep.

"No, I fed him last night. It's _your_ night." Grumbling to himself, James got up, wiping the sleep from his eyes and sighed, Summoning a bottle of formula.

Lily heard him stumble down the hall to the baby's room, brandishing the formula bottle. "Hey kid," he groused affectionately. "Hungry again, are we?" The wailing stopped as Harry sucked on the nipple of the bottle, but Lily couldn't get back to sleep. Hearing Harry screech was more effective than any alarm clock, and she stared at the moonlight reflected across the ceiling, wide awake.

They had brought Harry home from St. Mungo's last Thursday, and Lily couldn't remember getting less sleep in a week. It seemed that every night, he woke up wailing, hungry or wet or with some other problem. James and Mr. Potter had set up Harry's crib with the floating mobile, the changing table, the high chair, and all the other baby contraptions, and Lily had delightedly used a glamour charm on her stomach and thighs, both of which had seen a lot of weight gain over the past nine months. She couldn't shrink her breasts yet, seeing as how she needed the milk, but she would as soon as she could – having large boobs was more of a hassle than she had always thought in her first, second and third years. Even though Harry spent most of his time pooping, sleeping, eating and crying, when he wasn't being bratty he was one of the most perfect things Lily had ever seen. He was very curious and always wanted to be moving – up, down, inside, outside, everywhere. He especially liked it when Lily or James propped him up with a spell, giving him a whole new perspective on his surroundings, but they didn't do it too often because the spell required their concentration to hold it up. He gurgled and cooed, hated baths, loved to eat, and loved being outside. Lily couldn't remember being happier in her entire life, even if she was pretty much running on empty, certain parts of her body looked like a nuclear blast site, and she hadn't worked in nearly two months. Every day when she woke up after getting two or three hours of sleep after a late-night feeding, griped her way downstairs, made herself a cup of coffee, trudged back upstairs, got dressed, felt the caffeine kick in, went into Harry's room and looked into his crib to see him gurgling up at her, and see the smile that broke out over his face when he recognized her, all the work and lack of sleep that went into caring for him seemed insignificant. It was like staring into the face of an angel. "Okay sweetie," she cooed. "Hungry?"

A/N: Okay, this chapter was kind of starting to lag. Plus I really hellas wanted to post the part with Dumbledore. I think the Albus/Aberforth relationship is fascinating, and I'm starting an Aberforth oneshot that's going to need a LOT of editing…but I'm excited!


	16. Marked

Chapter 15 – Marked

A/N: Guys? Reviews? Hello? *voice echoes back to her in the empty review space for the last chapter*. Hahaha…I'm not going to hold chapters/cookies/people hostage for reviews but come on! Reviewwww!

Three months passed faster than Lily had expected them to. Harry's sleeping patterns mercifully evened out, and he started to love books – all books. He was too young to grab for them, but he would make some strangled, gargling noise whenever Lily or James sat with him in their arms and the other parent read a book to him. Since he had a pureblood and Muggle-born parent, he was getting twice the amount of literature that most children got – _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_ was read to him often, but so were _Snow White _and _101 Dalmatians._ She decided to be a stay-at-home mom until Harry's first birthday, and consequently was there to witness his first words, his first steps, and his first time tearing apart the living room by joyfully grabbing onto things just above his head and tossing them all over the place. Lily and James quickly baby-proofed the house, and Harry was rather put out to learn that he couldn't engage in much merry destruction anymore. The outside world went on outside their house, but Lily hadn't paid much attention to events that weren't major. Babies, it turned out, were very preoccupying.

***

On a windy Welsh hillock, a small man with watery eyes knelt before a bald man with white skin and red eyes. "Wormtail," the Dark Lord said. "You tell me that there have been two births according to the criteria that I specified?"

"Harry Potter and N-Neville Longbottom, my Lord," Wormtail squeaked, trembling. "Both born in the end of July to parents that have thrice defied them."

"The _Potters_," Voldemort mused, tapping his fingertips together. "My, isn't that _interesting_. The Dark Lord appreciates your efforts, Wormtail. You are dismissed."

"Yes, my Lord," Wormtail whispered, kissing the hem of Voldemort's robes and Disapparating. Voldemort, already deep in thought, turned on his heel and vanished into the night.

***

When Harry was ten months old, on an unseasonably balmy evening in May, a knock came at the door at around six. In an effort to even out his eating patterns, Lily had started feeding him when he woke up, at noon, at dinner time, and right before bed, and subsequently was in an uncomfortable position when she heard the bell. "Um, coming!" she called, and Harry jerked his head up from where he was nursing, looking confused. Quickly casting an illusion spell on her shirt so that it looked as though it was appropriately placed, she stood up with Harry and opened the door just as Harry finished.

An old wizard with waist-length white hair and beard was standing on the stoop, his blue eyes looking rather grave. "Ms. Potter," he said solemnly. "Good evening."

"Professor?" Lily asked, shocked but quickly getting over it. "Would you like a drink?" she asked, showing him into the living room. "Tea? Brandy?"

"Ba," Harry added, looking at Dumbledore over Lily's shoulder with tiny raised eyebrows.

The old man smiled. "Some tea would be welcome, thank you."

Fixing two cups of tea for herself and the professor, Lily sat on the couch across from the armchair where Dumbledore sat, putting Harry on the carpet and Summoning some blocks and a rattle for him to play with. "How's the Order?" she asked. "I feel so bad being gone so long."

"If I had had a child, I would have taken some time off too," Dumbledore assured her. "He's growing very nicely, too," he added, watching Harry waving the rattle and laughing at the noise.

They made a little more small talk before Lily set down her tea and asked, "What brings you to Godric's Hollow today?"

Dumbledore shifted in his seat. "I needed to talk to you and James," he said. "I can leave and come back when he gets here, if you'd like."

"Oh no, don't bother!" Lily exclaimed. "I just need to start dinner – Harry, don't gum on that – I just need to start dinner. Would you like to stay?"

"No, I have other plans," Dumbledore replied. "Shall I return at…say…eight?"

"It's a plan," Lily replied, and the professor bade her and Harry goodbye, shutting the door gently on his way out. Pointing her wand a pot of water on the stove, she made the water boil and dropped in a package of pasta, hearing it hiss. Sitting down at the kitchen table, she contemplated what Dumbledore had needed to say to them. It couldn't have been anything good, because Dumbledore never gave good news to anybody these days. Before she could really get too lost in thought, James came through the back door after proving himself.

"Petal," he said, kissing Lily before turning his attention to Harry in his bouncy chair. "And _Harry_! How's my big boy? How was your day?"

"Pretty quiet," Lily said. "He played with his toys…strewed some ashes around the living room that I had to clean up…took two naps. But Dumbledore came by and said he needed to talk to us about twenty minutes ago. He'll be back at eight."

"Did he hint as to what he wanted to talk about?" James asked, concerned, and Lily shook her head. "What's for dinner?"

"Pasta. James, this can't be anything good. What if he's gotten to us?"

"If he'd gotten to us, we'd be dead by now," James said in an incredibly misguided attempt to calm Lily. "We can only wait and see. No one would betray us, so this is probably just something precautionary." The pasta was ready, so they sat and ate (or, in Harry's case, gummed on some noodles), and waited for Dumbledore's return.

***

The old man returned promptly at eight, identifying himself correctly, and had them sit at the kitchen table. Harry sat on James' knee and played with a pair of socks, which he found fascinating for some reason. "Lily, James," Dumbledore began. "I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but my sources tell me that the three of you have been Marked."

James' eyes darkened and he pulled Lily and Harry to him protectively, but Lily was confused. "I'm sorry, remind me what that means again?" she asked.

"Certainly, Lily," the professor replied with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Marked is when Lord Voldemort…puts you on his hit list, to use the colloquial definition." Lily whitened and Dumbledore nodded. "It's a bad situation to be in, I can assure you. I am here to tell you how you can best protect yourselves. I believe it is in your best interests to go into hiding using the Fidelius Charm."

James gaped. "Go into _hiding_?" he asked incredulously. "It's gotten that far already?"

Dumbledore made a grave noise of assent. "I'm afraid so. Who would you want to be your Secret-Keeper?"

"Sirius," Lily and James said in unison without even a second's thought. James tossed some Floo powder into the fireplace and asked for him, and the Animagus appeared seconds later, disheveled and smelling of cigarette smoke.

"Lilyflower, Prongs, my man Harry," he greeted the threesome jovially. "And…Professor?" he asked, confused. "What's going on?"

James sighed. "We've been Marked, Pads," he said weightily. Horrified, Sirius looked to Lily and Dumbledore for confirmation, and they both nodded sadly. "We're going into hiding using the Fidelius Charm, and we were wondering if you would be our Secret-Keeper?"

"Merlin," Sirius said in hushed tones. "Um…sure, I can do that. Should we do it now?"

"I think that would be best," Albus said, standing and performing the charm. "Mr. Black, can I count on you to bring the Potters food and other necessities?"

"Of course," Sirius replied, still looking a little shocked. "Who else do you want me to tell, guys?"

"Probably just Remus, Wormtail and my parents," James said. "And Mary," he added as an afterthought and Lily nodded, satisfied. "We should keep this under the radar for as long as we can – Voldemort shouldn't know that he's gotten to us."

Sirius nodded, dazed. "I – I can't believe this is happening."

"Me neither," Lily whispered, and the four wizards and one witch sat together until Dumbledore politely took his leave and Sirius followed soon after, but only after James had insisted he leave and "get some freaking sleep, for Merlin's sake." Harry had nodded off in Lily's arms long ago. She put him in his crib and he immediately stretched out on his back, sticking his thumb in his mouth. Kissing his forehead and whispering goodnight, she left the door open a crack and went into the bathroom. The minty toothpaste was like an electroshock jolting her back into reality as she remembered what Marking meant. Her thoughts raced around her head too fast for her to control them, and her life felt like a train that was pulling into its last stop. The toothbrush still in her mouth, Lily sat down on the toilet seat and succumbed, finally, to tears.

A/N: AHHH! I cannot _believe_ I did this again – I only finished the chapter after aridnie sent me a "get your freaking ass in gear" message, and I am SO SORRY it took me so long! I don't deserve reviews but they're always welcome anyway, haha. There are two more chapters to go in this fic, so stay tuned!


	17. July 31, 1981

Chapter 16 – July 31, 1981

A/N: Okay. I have started this update on February 15, 2009. I will be in LA until February 20, 2009, without my computer. If all goes according to plan, this chapter should be up BEFORE THE 25TH. I really hope that this works! As always, Twitter me for updates. .com/ilovedraco45 (don't copy/paste.)

On the morning of Harry's first birthday, Lily was awoken by a soft stream of sunlight pouring in through the window. "Wh'day zit?" she mumbled, rolling over onto James' chest.

"The 31st, seeing as how yesterday was the 30th and all," James said in a bored and irritated tone. Sighing, Lily sat up and pushed her hair off her shoulders.

"James, we have been over this. Just because you don't like being cooped up in the house all the time does _not_ mean you can take it out on me. Remember?"

James sighed back. "I'm sorry, love," he grumbled. "I just wish I could go to work. A man's supposed to _provide_ for his family, you know? How can I keep you and Harry in food and clothes if I don't work?"

"There are other ways a man can provide for a woman," Lily said with a smile, laying herself on top of him. They began to kiss and just as James was wrapping his arms around her waist, Harry began to wail. "Fucking Merlin!" Lily shrieked. "His birthday – I _completely forgot_! How could I forget, it's not like I'm doing anything with my days…oh my _God_!"

James was rather unconcerned. "We couldn't really do much anyways," he said. "Seeing as how Sirius, Remus, and Peter are all gone, and my parents think that coming here would put us in danger."

Lily shrugged. "He should at least get a cake or something. He needs a good day."

"Well, I know you'll make it great." James had gotten out of bed and kissed her on the lips before heading into the bathroom.

Lily went into Harry's room, where he had stopped wailing and was gurgling up at her curiously. "Happy birthday, sweet pea," she whispered, picking him up. "Let's get some breakfast."

***

Lily and James had been in hiding for two months now, and their days had taken on a new kind of routine. They woke whenever Harry did, ate breakfast, and then found various ways to occupy themselves until 8, when Harry went to sleep, and 11, when his parents followed. Lily had started tending to the tiny garden in the front yard after Dumbledore had assured her that only people who had learned of their location from the Secret-Keeper or one of the Potters could see her outside, and she had become friends with Bathilda Bagshot, one of her neighbors on their street. James had laughed uproariously after learning that Lily was friends with the author of _A History of Magic_, seeing as how History of Magic had been her worst subject, but he wasn't one to deny some outside company. Sirius came by whenever he could, as did Remus, but it wasn't often enough and Peter's visits were becoming more and more infrequent. James worried about Wormtail – he had always required a degree of looking after that he probably wasn't getting out in the real world. In an effort to bring another person into their lives, he and Lily had adopted a stray cat, Dot, (named for the one splotch of white on her black fur), but it wasn't the same as a real person. Bathilda was a welcome presence, no doubt.

Today, even though Sirius and Lupin couldn't be there for Harry's first birthday, they had both sent presents that were on the back step. James brought both of them inside and put them on the dining room table, as Harry looked on from his high chair. "Presents for _you_, bub!" James said. "I might keep a couple though, would that be okay?"

"James!" Lily chided, laughing. "Its okay, Harry, Mummy won't let Daddy take your things." She stuck her tongue out at her husband and he blew a kiss in reply.

"Mummy's bringing you down, little man," James said. "Let's open these!" He tore into Remus' gift, a big book of children's stories, and snorted. "Typical Remus, huh? We'll save these for later. Let's see what Uncle Sirius got for you." He tore through the brown package and Lily buried her face in her hands. "Awwww, _yeah_!" James shouted, the high school boy in him making an appearance. "_Toy broomstick_!"

"James, he can't! He's _far_ too young, he'll put out an eye or bash his head or break something or–" Lily stopped talking, knowing her attempts to talk sense into her husband were futile. James was already taking Harry upstairs to change him out of his pajamas and into a new outfit._ Probably a white scarf and some aviator's goggles_, Lily thought and snorted, remembering newsreels of pilots she'd seen as a young girl. "I'm letting you dress him, don't disappoint me!" she shouted up the stairs, before laughing and setting her wand on the dishes, charming the pots and pans to wash themselves.

By four that afternoon, however, Lily's attempts to throw Harry an awesome party had fallen flat. She'd baked a cake, but what was the point of a cake if there was no one to eat it with? She was still pondering this when she went to the front yard to water the roses and peonies when she heard a quavery voice over the garden fence. "Lily, dear?"

"Bathilda!" Lily cried, smiling. "How are you? How's your knee?"

"Much better, dear, thank you," the old lady said with a smile. "Your peonies look lovely…I just stopped by to wish little Harry a happy birthday and give him his present." She held up a brown paper bag and Lily smiled.

"Merlin, you _shouldn't_ have, Bathilda, you're too kind, you–" Bathilda cut off her clichéd protests with a quivery laugh.

"I'm what, on a fixed income? You forget yourself dear, I have more than enough to support myself. Don't worry about me. Now, where is he?"

A crash sounded inside the house, followed by a delighted squeal from Harry and a shout of laughter from James, followed by a shrieking, outraged howl from Dot, who shot out the front door and went to cower by the two sunflowers that Lily had managed to rise. "They're inside," she said with a sigh. "His godfather got him a toy broomstick, and James is having a little too much fun with it."

"Perhaps I'll wait," the historian said with a wary glance into the house, just as a bright idea struck Lily.

"How about you come back for tea?" she asked. "All our friends are out of town, and poor Harry only has his parents to spend his first birthday with. We're having roast beef and I've made a nice cake."

"That would be lovely, Lily," Bathilda replied. "What time?"

"Around six?"

"Perfect." They bade their goodbyes and Lily ended her _Aguamenti_ charm, satisfied at her small accomplishment.

***

Bathilda returned at six as promised, carrying Harry's present in its paper bag and a bottle of elf-made wine for the adults. "Happy birthday," she cooed, pinching his cheek from where he sat in his high chair and handing the paper bag to James, who turned it upside-down. A stuffed velociraptor fell onto the table and James handed it to Harry, who promptly began to chew on it. "No point in trying to get him not to," Lily dismissed. "That was very generous, Bathilda, thank you."

The three adults and Harry crowded around the kitchen table and ate. "So, how is the Order going?" Bathilda asked. When Lily and James looked at each other nervously, she dispelled their nerves with a wave of her hand. "I know you're in it," she said. "You've all been Marked, you were both Aurors, Head Boy and Girl, Gryffindors, you're a Muggle-born–" she pointed at Lily "–you're prime Order material. "So. How's Dumbledore, and how's the Order going?"

Lily and James continued to exchange nervous stares. Common sense dictated that they should deny any knowledge of the Order of the Phoenix or their involvement, but they were lonely and Bathilda seemed trustworthy enough. "We've been a bit out of the loop," Lily confessed. "What with having to go into hiding and all. Dumbledore sometimes drops by and gives us updates, but it's not like we can actually do anything. It's rather frustrating, to James especially." Bathilda gave James a sympathetic smile, but he concentrated on his food, uncomfortable with his emotions being revealed to a not-so-close friend. "I still find it hard to think of Dumbledore as a friend or comrade, and not as a Professor. I can't count how many times I've called him 'Professor' and he's corrected me. Calling him _Albus_ to his face just sounds…weird, you know?"

Bathilda smiled. "Albus was a rather dear boy to me. You know he grew up right here in Godric's Hollow?"

"_Really_?" Lily asked, fascinated. James had been told about this long ago by his parents, but he nodded all the same. "Over on Ignotus Drive, right?"

"Right," Bathilda said. "His family and I were neighbors, in fact. I remember his mother almost ran herself ragged with Percival in Azkaban, Albus being wrapped up in his studies, and all the issues with Aberforth and…well; I didn't know them very well until Gellert moved in with me for the summer."

"Gellert _Grindelwald_?" James asked incredulously, and Lily gasped. "I thought that was just a rumor!"

The old woman shook her head. "No," she said, smiling devilishly, and Lily got the impression that Bathilda was rather enjoying herself. "It was the summer of…1912, I want to say, and Gellert was staying with me." _Damn, how old _is_ this woman?_ James thought, and Lily elbowed him when she saw him gape slightly. "Yes, I remember now. Poor Albus was so lonely in that little house, no one to trade ideas with, so I introduced Gellert to him and it was instantaneous – those two boys took to each other like a fish to water." Now Lily and James were both gaping. _Albus Dumbledore_ and _Gellert Grindelwald_? How was that possible? A man who spent a lot of his life fighting for Muggle rights and equality and the wizard who had had the same goals as Voldemort? "I always wondered about those two," the old woman was continuing, her eyes misty with nostalgia. "Albus and Gellert seemed a little bit _too_ close, you know? Trading thoughts late into the night, spending every day together, making big plans that I never heard anything about…well, you can imagine how horrible I felt when I realized what Gellert had been planning all those nights. Thank Merlin Albus saw the light and talked some sense into himself…but anyways. Those two were closer than friends, do you know what I mean?" she asked, staring at Lily and James with a significant look in her eyes. Call it a woman's intuition, but Lily understood straightaway.

"Get _out_!" she yelped, banging the table with one fist and startling Harry so bad that a thin slice of roast beef hit the ground with a wet _slap_. "_Dumbledore_ and…no. That's not even…oh my _God_!" James choked on a piece of potato as the implications hit him.

"I _know_!" Bathilda cried excitedly, the gossip bringing a sparkle to her eyes and taking several years off her face. "What do you know about _that_!" After a moment, her expression became more serious. "Please don't spread this all around, though," she said. "Albus will tell everyone when he wants to." _Bullshit,_ James thought. _You can't spread around juicy gossip and then tell us not to tell anyone!_ But he smiled and agreed with Lily all the same.

Bathilda left at around 9, claiming that "old ladies need their sleep", after the cake had been served and Harry had smeared chocolate frosting all over himself and his high chair. Tossing a few _Scourgify_s at the affected areas, Lily and James toted a snoozing, sugar-crashing Harry into his crib, and settled onto the sofa in the living room.

"Dumbledore and _Grindelwald_," Lily said, shocked. "I…I can't even…_wow_." James just nodded. In all the excitement of Harry's birthday and everything Bathilda had told them, they had both forgotten that they had been Marked and that Voldemort would come for them, probably soon. _If only every day could be like this_, James thought wistfully. _Then we could live like normal people_. Snorting to himself, he rolled his eyes and took Lily into his arms. "I know," he chuckled. "I know."


	18. Halloween Day

Chapter 17 – Halloween Day

Disclaimer: Guess.

A/N: Holy crap you guys, last chapter. It's crazy how _long_ this has gone on! Poor Lily and James…I used to have a picture book called Halloween Day and it was really fun and people ate cupcakes, so I thought this was kind of ironic for a title, haha. Enjoy! (OH ALSO I HIT 40 PAGES, LOVE YOU GUYS!)

Late in September, Lily and James were eating dinner when Sirius burst in shaking, his shirt rumpled and shoes on the wrong feet. "Merlin, Sirius, what happened?" Lily gasped, jumping up. Harry looked worried from his high chair.

"They came for me and trashed my place!" Sirius exclaimed after gulping a goblet of mead. "They're looking for more followers, even though they have something like half the wizards in Britain with them, and they thought I'd be an easy turn because of my _family background_." He spat the last two words bitterly, as though they tasted bad in his mouth, and took another sip of his drink. "Listen," he said, turning from Lily to James. "I think we should pick another Secret-Keeper."

"Padfoot, that's absurd," James scoffed. "I know you wouldn't sell us out."

"But _I _don't know that I wouldn't!" Sirius cried, nervous. "I've never held up well to physical pain…if they crack me I might sell you out and you would be dead before you hit the floor, all of you!"

"Okay," James said. "Let's not panic. Let's think this through in a logical way." Despite how much her husband had grown up over the years, Lily still had to smother giggles whenever she heard him advocate logic, and she did so now. "Remus can't do it because he's in too deep trying to convert other werewolves…and he's basically in the same position as you. It'll have to be Peter."

"What about Dumbledore?" Lily asked. "Or…or Mary?"

"Dumbledore has more important secrets to keep, I'm sure," James responded. "And…to be honest, I trust Peter with my _life._ Do you trust Mary with yours?"

"_Yes_," Lily said firmly. Harry's eyes darted from James to Lily, sensing the tension. "You know Mary. She was one of the first people to sign up for the Order. She traveled with us around the world. How is she any less worthy of being our Secret-Keeper?"

"Peter's a _Marauder_!" James said, his eyes shining with high school ideology. Sirius nodded vigorously in agreement.

"So, Peter is a better Secret-Keeper than Mary because he was in your little high school boys club?"

James and Sirius both gasped and looked pained to hear Lily refer to the almighty Marauders as a _little high school boys club_. "How can you – I don't even – _Lilyflower_!" Sirius exclaimed. "Why must you be so _hurtful_?"

James was more serious. "Look, Lily. You trust me, right?" Lily nodded. "And when have I ever failed you?" Seeing her eyes narrow, James was quick to add "_After_ we started dating?"

"Never," Lily grumbled reluctantly.

"Then please, petal. Trust me. Peter's worthy of our trust." When Lily finally nodded, James jumped up. "I'll call him." He threw some Floo powder into the fireplace and Peter appeared moments later, sweating and shaking.

"Merlin, Peter, you sick?" Sirius asked.

Peter shook his head. "Some Death Eaters – they, um, cornered me – and _Crucio_ed me." This was at least partly true – Voldemort had set some of them on him for failing to provide more information. "It's nothing, I'm fine," he said in response to his three friends' stricken expressions. "What's going on?"

"Listen, Peter," Sirius said. "The Death Eaters are targeting me, and we need to switch Secret-Keepers. Remus is too deep undercover, so we were wondering…could you do it?"

All the reasons Peter knew he shouldn't agree to this crowded his conscience, shouting and jockeying for a position in the front. "Sure," he said. "I'd be honored."

The switch was performed, and Peter and Sirius left arguing about the hotness of Celestina Warbeck, but Lily frowned as she picked up Harry and directed the plates at the kitchen sink before setting them to washing themselves. _Always trust your woman's intuition_, her mother's voice scolded. _I stopped trusting my intuition the day I realized that it led me away from James_, Lily replied defiantly. _If James says Peter is worthy of our trust, then he is. No…no questions asked._

***

Out on the street, Peter turned to Sirius. "Listen, I…I forgot something at work," he lied. "I'm going to go back for it. Meet you in the Leaky Cauldron at nine?"

"Sure," Padfoot replied. "You want me to go with you?"

"No, that's okay," Wormtail said. "See you at nine." Before Sirius could ask any more questions, he turned on his heel and disappeared.

Voldemort was waiting with Nagini wrapped around his shoulders. "So?" he asked when Wormtail rematerialized.

"M-my Lord, it has happened," Wormtail trembled. "The Potters have m-made me their Secret-Keeper."

Voldemort's red eyes flashed in satisfaction. "Excellent. Sending Rosier and Wilkes to the blood traitor Black's apartment was a masterstroke. You have served your master well, Wormtail. Dismissed."

"Yes, my Lord," Wormtail whispered, kissing the hem of the Dark Lord's robes and Disapparating.

_No questions asked,_ Lily repeated to herself as she fell asleep. _No questions asked._

***

Halloween of 1981 dawned the way a fall day should be – full of red and gold falling leaves and crisp, smoky air. Lily was up with the sun and decided to take a walk, leaving the yard for the first time in months. Casting a Disillusionment Charm on herself, she shuddered as the cold trickled down her neck. _Of course Dumbledore would want to examine James' damn cloak_, she thought, rolling her eyes. _He probably just wanted to see if there were any duplicates like it out there – Hogwarts can't take another set of Marauders._ Chuckling to herself, she eased the door open and shut and hopped the fence instead of going through the gate.

Lily had never gotten used to walking through crowds invisible. It was like her childhood dreams where she would float just above the heads of a crowd, drifting her toes and swirling her skirts (for some reason, she was always wearing a _Cinderella_-esque ball gown in those dreams.) The sun was rising in purple and pink to the east as she dodged a man walking his dog and walked to the local playground. Sitting on a dewy swing, she watched it rise and remembered the first time she had learned she was a witch. Forgetting what it would look like if any Muggles saw a swing swinging on its own, Lily pumped herself higher and higher until she flew off the swing, landing gracefully on her feet. Satisfied that she had made it almost all the way to the wading pool, she dusted off her hands and looked around.

The world had changed since she and James had last left the house. The play structure had changed from wooden metal to cheap, colored plastic that would probably give kids shocks and the trees were taller. She noticed everything on her way back to the house – every chip in the sidewalk and every oil stain in every Muggle driveway. _I wonder if being locked up makes you more aware of your surroundings,_ she mused. _I can't believe my life's ended up this way_. Hopping the fence again, she lifted the Disillusionment Charm, went back inside, and crawled into bed next to James again, tucking her head into the crook of his neck and closing her eyes, smiling when he pulled her closer instinctively.

Everyone slept late – when Harry started wailing, it was almost 10. Lily plucked him out of his crib and fed him, feeling refreshed from her early-morning walk, and James stumbled into Harry's room right when he finished nursing and she put him back in the crib. "Morning, love," he said, kissing her hard on the mouth.

"Morning to you to," Lily said with a giggle. "What was that for?"

"I don't know," James said, sounding like the same high school boy she loved. "I just wanted to."

After breakfast, James went upstairs to shower and shave and when he came back down, a terrible sight met his eyes. "Bloody _hell_. Lily, what in the name of Merlin's outside cycling shorts have you _done_?"

"He's a kitty!" Lily crowed triumphantly, gesturing towards a very disgruntled Harry, who had been prodded into a black cat costume, complete with ears, a tail, whiskers, and a black nose.

_Oh, Merlin, she's finally lost it_, James thought to himself before bursting into laughter. "Lily, you know I love you, but that looks _ridiculous_. Come on man, let's change you," he said, lifting Harry out of his bouncy chair and carrying him up the stairs. "Now, don't mind your mother," he said, pulling off the cat costume and magically removing the whiskers and nose. "She's just been locked up in this house too damn long." He paused then, despite Harry's clamoring. _I can't believe our lives turned out like this_.

***

Lily and James' thoughts both lightened as the day progressed when they realized that because of the Fidelius Charm, they wouldn't have to answer the doorbell a million times when the trick-or-treaters came by. James wondered vaguely what would happen when Harry had to start trick-or-treating, but brushed it off and thanked Merlin that Harry was still too young to know what Halloween (or even candy) was, as the sky was darkening and rain began to fall. Lily served orange and yellow pumpkin-shaped pasta for dinner and decided to take a shower when she had Banished the dishes to the sink and set them to wash themselves. "Watch Harry, would you?" she asked James on her way up the stairs, and he yelled back, "On it!"

As hot water poured over her body, she thought about the bills and how Harry needed to see the doctor – silly, everyday things. But after she turned off the water, a pool in the bottom lapped gently at her feet and she was reminded of black waves on a Fijian beach. _Damn clogged drain,_ she thought, grinning as she reached down to unclog it.

She heard Harry's squeals of laughter before she returned to the living room, dressed with her hair dried perfectly. As she entered, she saw James making smoke rings with his wand and Harry gleefully trying to catch the rings. "I was just thinking about Fiji," she said smiling. "Come here, baby," she cooed to Harry, and James stretched as she picked the toddler up and settled him on her hip.

Just as James had tossed his wand onto the sofa and kissed her on the cheek, the front door burst open. _Oh Merlin, it's time,_ James thought, hardly daring to believe it. But as he darted into the front hall and saw Voldemort standing there, all of his hopes drained. _God-fucking-dammit. _"Lily, take Harry and go!" he shouted. "It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off!"

Ice filled Lily's veins and she clutched Harry in her arms, Apparating up to his bedroom and shoving boxes, chests of drawers, anything she could find up against the door. Just as she'd piled everything she could lift, she heard a high, cold voice scream _"Avada Kedavra_!" and she saw the blinding flash of green light fill the room. And as Voldemort pounded up the stairs and blasted the door open, Lily was transported back to her beach in Fiji. _I will love you and care for you until the day I die and there's nothing you can do about it_, James' voice whispered in her ear.

_He was right, _Lily thought, tears rolling down her face and sobs shaking her body as she jumped in front of Harry, her fight instinct kicking in. _He never lied to me._

A/N: Oh. My. God. Hardest scene I have _ever written_. I had to stop like ten times and take deep breaths…DAMN. Keep reading for end notes and Special Thanks!


	19. Special Thanks, Of Course!

Chapter 18 – Special Thanks, Of Course!

This trilogy took up a lot of my mind from September to tonight, February 24, 2009 at 8:49 PM PST. 110 pages, quite a few boxes of candy, the music of ABBA, Belle and Sebastian, Death Cab and Spoon, and the love of my reviewers are what kept me going through this. To all of you, thank you so much for showing some love and keeping me going through countless bouts of writer's block, school stress, and Personal Dramaz. To aridnie, I love getting your PM's. You write the _best_, _most descriptive reviews ever_, and I loved hearing your feedback =). What's on the horizon now? To be honest, I don't know. I might take a little break from fanfic, but I have a couple different things in the pipeline, such as an Aberforth oneshot and, of course, the Forever In Progress _One Week Without Magic_. I also kind of want to do a "boo hoo Snape misses Lily" oneshot, but I'm not sure when I'll get to it. You all have been so good to me, and I love each and every one of you – even the ones that didn't review. Please keep reading, stay supportive, and, as always, twitter me for updates – www . twitter . com / ilovedraco45 (you can copy and paste (holy crap I know), just delete the spaces).


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